


Legends Are Told

by lutzaussi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Chuunin Exams, F/M, Haruno Sakura-centric, Illnesses, Multi, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Romance, Violence, Wangst, teenagers being teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-03-09 09:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3245207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lutzaussi/pseuds/lutzaussi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Sasuke missing from Konoha and Naruto traveling with Jiraiya, Sakura is left alone in the remains of what was her ideal life. Trying to fit in with a new normal, she trains under the best minds Konohagakure has to offer and makes a name for herself.</p><p>Looking back, getting Sasuke back was the easiest part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> Elaboration on a headcanon where Sarutobi succeeded in killing Orochimaru (for good jesus christ he is annoying) but Sasuke was still enticed to leave Konoha by Kabuto and the Sound Four. We’ll just say Enma was able to catch the sword so Sarutobi had the strength to pull out Orochimaru’s soul. This storyline is going to focus more on Sakura and Kakashi than Sasuke or Naruto. I'm going to continue putting notes with the story. I also recently kindled a deep love for Sakura's character (definitely not given as much development as she should've gotten) which is the reason this work really started. Enjoy, nerdlets!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has a start on their path to greatness. This is Haruno Sakura's.

It was early in the afternoon when Sakura left the hospital, done with her shadowing rounds for the day. Tsunade had important meetings for the next three weeks, and thus was not able to supervise her or trust her with her own patients. It was a rather chilly spring day; Sakura took her time to wander down the streets of Konoha. She debated over where to take lunch and if she should go home and change before meeting with Anko later.

Anko had been drug in to help her train in Tsunade’s absence, a welcome change in Sakura’s opinion. The old woman was a fearsome fighter and an amazing healer, but she couldn’t teach fighting like she could teach healing.

The pink-haired girl decided on ramen for lunch, but not before going home to change.

Once at the ramen stand, her thoughts wandered to Naruto. Often she found herself thinking of Naruto. It wasn't just because of the ramen, but also because she avoided the thought of Sasuke at all costs. She wondered if he was also training on his travels, and if he was learning as much as she. Sakura doubted he was learning as much as her, she contemplated over her ramen. In terms of overall skill, she’d been dead last in their team. Heck, she even grudgingly allowed that Ino had more skill on the battlefield than her. Tsunade was helping her elevate her skills, not just by mere footsteps, but by leaps and bounds. Plus, Naruto would not be learning how to heal—Sakura’s training in that field was just as fierce as her combat training.

Done with her ramen, she paid for it and brushed all thoughts of Naruto and any other nin from her mind. She didn’t know what Anko had in mind for the afternoon, but the elite jounin would doubtless work her hard.

When she finally arrived at the training ground, Sakura was intensely grateful that she chose to change. It was beginning to warm up, and even Anko was missing her usual overcoat. Another woman stood with her, and they were conversing in low voices. The other woman looked just as intense as, if not fiercer than, Anko. Their hair was almost the same cut, but the new woman's hair was an inky black, and her eyes had a mischievous glint. She wore her forehead protector on her forehead, and had a simple outfit of a tanktop, leggings, and boots on. The tanktop showed off her strong arms, tattooed with the ANBU tattoo and a long, coiled dragon, that Sakura was sure continued down her back.

Sakura slowed when she saw the two women, unsure if she was interrupting, but Anko brightened when she saw the genin.

“Sakura-chan!” she crowed, “just in time! I’m glad your sensei’s habits did not rub off on you.” The elite jounin nudged the other woman forward, “This is Miyamoto Ume-san. She will be training with us as well.”

Ume shook Sakura’s hand with a firm grip and said in a soft voice, “I have heard a lot about you, Sakura-chan. I hope you will learn a lot from me.” Sakura, tentatively deciding she liked this soft-spoken woman, could only blush and mutter her thanks.

“Right, then,” Anko clapped her hands, a grin set on her face. “I had a plan for today, but since Ume has joined us, I think we might need to figure something else out.”

“Hmmm,” Ume pressed a hand to her chin in thought, “I have an idea. I’ll run a gauntlet for you two, tracking and trapping. Weapons—yea or nay?”

“For us yea,” Anko pressed, starting to look somewhat green, “for you, no kunai or shuriken. Or summons. Why did I agree to bring you on board?”

The mischievous glint in Ume’s dark eyes had become a full-on fire, and Sakura couldn’t help feeling a little green too. The older ninja said, “Your trap-finding skills need work, anyway. And Sakura-chan will need to learn more about traps. I am doing you a favor, Anko.” She turned from Anko to Sakura, “Sakura-chan, you and Anko will be running a gauntlet; avoiding my traps, and trying to track me. I’ll give you, oh, two or so hours. You will need to remember two things. Work with Anko—watch out for traps that could ensnare her and she will do the same, but do not rely on her too much.”

Sakura nodded firmly, glancing at Anko once more. She looked a little better—a little less sick, to be sure, and she seemed to be steeling herself for the ordeal yet to come.

“Now then, let’s start,” said Ume, her grin devilish, as she clapped her hands and disappeared.                                  

Anko looked at Sakura and said, “One, keep moving. Two, follow your instincts.” With no further noise, she ran into the trees.

Sakura waited for a second, making a circle to ensure that Ume was not waiting on the other side of the clearing. She saw a dark blur that rocketed right by her, close enough to make her hair fly back. Her hand instinctively went up to her hair, to calm it out of her eyes, but her headband was gone. Turning again, Ume stood almost 10 meters in front of her, holding up her headband in one hand. Her lips quirked.

“Come and get it,” she said in a coy voice, before vanishing back into the trees. Without waiting this time, Sakura followed.

 

\---

 

Sakura was plowing a pretty steady path through the underbrush, staying silent. She congratulated herself for that, and also that she had so far evaded any traps. Anko had crossed her path once or twice to warn her about traps, and Sakura had done the same. Yet, they were a half an hour in, and neither of them had seen Ume since she had stolen Sakura’s headband.

Sakura crouched behind a tree when she saw movement in a small clearing in front of her. She peeked out once and, seeing that it was Ume, she sprinted forward. Tossing several kunai at the other ninja, she ended in a roll under a bush, trying to keep her pink hair out of her face.

Checking out once to see if she had managed to hit Ume, she pulled a hairband out of her hip pouch to tie her hair up, once again on the run to find Anko.

When she found the other woman, she hand-signed that she had seen Ume 20 meters back. The best part of working with Tsunade was that she already picked up a lot of the hand signals that higher-level nin used. Anko nodded and signed that there were more traps from where she had come from.

Another two hours passed like that—Anko and Sakura ferreting around, trying not to get caught in traps, but getting caught, and never seeing Ume.

Sakura finally thought they had the drop on Ume when she noticed the other ninja standing in a clearing. They charged at once, from opposite directions. In an instant, Anko got pulled into the ground and the earth rose up and surrounded Sakura so only her head showed.

“Time,” Ume called out, loud enough for both of them to hear. She stopped and rested against Sakura’s earth-casing, catching her breath. “You guys almost got me. Damn, I’m tired.”

“Ged me odda her,” Anko grumbled, muffled by the earth surrounding her. Ume rolled her eyes and performed another jutsu—this time, the casing around Sakura sunk back into the earth, and Anko popped out of the ground.

Ume helped Sakura stand and returned her headband as Anko flailed, trying to get all the dirt out of her mouth and off of her clothes.

“Let’s go out for dinner,” Ume said, stretching. “Something substantial, like barbecue. My treat.”

Only then did Sakura notice how the sun was lengthening the shadows of the trees, and the sky was beginning to turn dark. And she was hungry, she realized. Barbecue sounded good, and it would give her the chance to learn a little bit more about both jounin.

Anko finally stomped over to them, most of the larger clumps of dirt back on the ground. She growled, “Let’s go, before I kill you.” and grabbed onto both Sakura and Ume and dragged them back into the city.

 

\---

 

The barbecue place was full by the time they reached it, and they got the last table. Anko immediately excused herself to go wipe off her face and hands, but Sakura just wanted food. As they waited, Ume began asking Sakura about her training.

“How is working with Tsunade-sama? I’ve heard that she’s fierce but a good teacher.”

“Maa, she is a good teacher. I have learned a lot under her at the hospital.”

“And on the training field?” Sakura looked up to make sure the other woman was not prodding or trying to make her put down her sensei. Ume gave her a warm smile and elaborated, “I have heard that she leads by example but is not the best at helping others train. I can understand—my own sensei was much like that. I was a hard worker, though, which is how I gained all the skills I have today.”

Sakura’s curiosity got the better of her, and she began assailing Ume with questions. “Are you a jounin? Where did you learn how to make all those traps? Can you teach me? How do you run so fast? Do you know Kakashi-sensei? How are you so much better than Anko? Who was your genin sensei?” Only when she had faltered did she realized that Ume hadn’t had time to answer any of her questions. She blushed and looked down at her hands.

Ume chuckled, “It’s okay. Well, I’ll start at the top—yes, I am a jounin. I specialize in many areas—traps, intelligence, fighting, and I do plan on teaching you how to make many of the traps I used today. I run fast because, like Rock Lee and Guy-san, I wear weights. I have met Kakashi-san several times in passing, but I have never talked to him or anything. And, I’m better than Anko because I eat all my vegetables, and also I’m just better than her anyway — ”

Anko returned as she said that and scowled, “No, it is only because you are out on missions all the time. You’ve been able to keep your skills sharp, but I’m stuck here teaching.” She pushed Ume over so they could share the bench. Sakura forgot that she had asked another question until Ume quietly answered it.

“And as far as my old sensei—well, I was on the same team as Anko,” she began laying meat across the brazier to cook. Sakura looked from Anko to Ume before the answer dawned on her—Orochimaru had been their teacher.

“But that’s in the past, and he’s dead,” the purple-haired elite jounin sighed, spearing a piece of cooked meat and chewing on it.

Sakura accepted that and stayed silent. She thought about her initial trust of the woman, and knew it was well-deserved. Anko prattled on about her classes while Ume ate pajori and meat. Finally, all the meat gone and their stomachs full, the three kunoichi left the restaurant.

Before they parted, Sakura turned to the two women and asked, “Will we be training tomorrow as well? And, um…” she scuffed the ground, unsure of how to ask her next question, “c-could I get some weights? So I can get faster?”

Ume looked confused at first, but comprehension dawned on her face, “Of course! I’ll bring them tomorrow. Make sure you relax tonight, and get some sleep!” Anko and Ume took off down the street in the opposite direction as Sakura, arms linked as they debated whether to go to a bar.

 

\---

 

Sakura’s days took a steady routine from then on. She would work at the hospital in the mornings until noon then get lunch and change before meeting Anko and Ume at the training ground. They would train for several hours before getting dinner together. She began wearing weights that made her whole body ache, but made her feel much stronger—her stamina began to increase as well.

Anko taught her all about poison and about disguising herself so thoroughly a ninken could not pick up her scent. Ume’s lessons were just as practical; traps and tracking, medical tricks to conserve chakra, and how to make food in the forest. The lesson Sakura was most excited for was learning to summon—under Tsunade’s keen eyes.

It was a chilly Tuesday, two weeks after she had started training with the two jounin, when Sakura was going to learn how to summon. She finished her work at the hospital and sped home, grabbing something to eat and throwing on her training clothes.

Anko was idly chucking kunai at a tree and Ume was rolling around with two small red shiba inu when Sakura arrived at the training ground. The dogs immediately noticed and rushed her. They had little matching collars with bells that tinkled as they moved, producing a merry sound. Sakura giggled as they sniffed her and nudged her hands.

As she petted them, Ume stood and dusted herself off. “We will have to wait for a bit to start. Tsunade-sama needs to come so you can register in the scroll. But since she’ll be here in a while, I can use that time to explain to you what summoning is!”

She sat on the ground and whistled for the dogs to return to her. They laid down on either side of her like bookends, and she began. “Summoning is an ancient art, and I’m sure you know about it already, but I need to tell you about what you will be summoning.”

Ume motioned for Anko to come over, “I suppose the best thing would be to give you an example. Anko and I both studied under Orochimaru, but he didn’t like me enough to train with me one-on-one, particularly when it came to summons. You already know that his summons was a giant snake.” Sakura nodded, shuddering at the memory of that horrendous purple monstrosity. “Well, most teachers allow their students to adopt their summons as well. Anko, if you would?”

Anko chewed on her thumb so it would bleed, then performed a series of hand seals. Sakura watched her, remembering some of the signs from Iruka's class and others from Kakashi. After the seals, the jounin pressed her bloody hand against the ground and smoke enveloped her arm. A snake appeared. It was much larger than the common garden variety but still smaller than any of the snakes Sakura had seen Orochimaru summon.

It coiled around Anko’s legs, butting its head against her in a loving manner as the jounin turned to Sakura and explained, “This is Shun. He is my primary summon. Orochimaru taught me to summon before I became a chuunin.” She hummed and scratched the scales under the snake’s eye.

“Orochimaru had twisted our elders, but he had signed the scroll,” Shun hissed, flicking his tongue out, his voice rasping and low, “I am glad to still work with this child.” Anko rubbed his scales with affection before releasing him.

Sakura stared at the smoke where the snake had been. She hadn’t known that it was necessary to create some kind of contract with the animal that she was going to summon.

Ume went back by the tree that Anko had been trying to kill and pulled a large bag made of plush velvet away from the tree trunk. She slid a large scroll out of it and unrolled the scroll. It contained a long list of names inscribed in some dark ink, with small hand prints next to the names.

“When I was a young girl—five or six, I do not remember at this point—my parents had me sign the clan scroll. It allowed me to summon our clan’s animals,” Ume said, and she gestured to the scroll and then to the two shiba. “Summons can be for many purposes. They are shrine dogs that help me sniff out evil spirits. My personal summons are different.”

She cut her thumb and performed the same hand seals that Anko had done. But, when she pushed her hand against the ground, the smoke that billowed was much larger, obscuring most of her body. A low cackling started as the smoke billowed away, revealing two large forms standing next to Ume’s slighter one.

Two large spotted hyenas grinned at Sakura. She flinched back, the shiba coming to stand by her reassuringly. They did not seem to fear the hyenas.

The larger one, with a torn ear and wicked sharp fangs, spoke, “Hello, little-plum.” Her voice was harsh, like a gust of winter wind rattling a window, or uncut nails against a chalkboard. “You no longer bleed. We have been waiting.”

Ume looked slightly embarrassed.

“I was going to…but…” she trailed off as the smaller hyena butted her in the chest.

“Who is this? and this one?” the smaller male ground out, jutting his head at Sakura, then Anko.

Sakura flinched back again, but Ume came over and gently coaxed her forward. The jounin said, “Anko, Sakura, this is Youta,” she gestured to the larger female, “and Tarou,” she motioned to the smaller male. The hyenas snapped their powerful jaws in reply. “I was reverse-summoned to their…cave, for lack of a better word. If you have not signed a scroll and you try to summon any kind of beast, you will be taken to the species that you have affinity for. Mine is hyenas. Yours, like Tsunade-sama, is slugs.” Sakura couldn’t help the disgusted expression that crossed her face at that. Ume chuckled, then continued, “As a medic-nin, primarily, the slug will be a definite help to you.  Tsunade-sama’s summons, Katsuyu, has great defensive ability, and can provide medical support or offensive support if she has need of it.”

Sakura absorbed the information Ume had given her, but found one flaw. “If you signed your family’s scroll so young, how did you get reverse-summoned by the hyenas? Did you try to summon them before you signed your family’s scroll?” Either way, the young kunoichi couldn’t wrap her head around it.

The female, Youta, threw back her shaggy head and laughed, a grating noise that made the hair on the back of Sakura’s neck stand up. “You are smart, little one,” the beast growled, “but you are wrong. She tried to summon after signing the scroll.” Sakura lost a little of her fear in her confusion, and looked to Ume to clarify.

“I tried to summon my clan’s summons, but clan summons typically use a different jutsu than personal summons. The hand signs are different—and I used the wrong hand signs.”

“Ora, Sakura-chan,” Tsunade’s strong voice brought Sakura away from what Ume was saying. She turned to her sensei, fully attentive to the forceful woman’s sudden appearance.

Tsunade stood back a ways from them, a large scroll akin to Ume’s slung over her shoulder. She was drinking straight from a bottle of sake and looked much more relaxed than Sakura had seen her in the past weeks.

The busty woman slung the scroll down, letting it unroll as she did. Her signature and handprint were the last in a long line. Under Tsunade’s careful eyes, Sakura cut her thumb and used the blood to write her name and imprint her handprint under Tsunade’s own. That done, Ume and Anko bowed out to let Tsunade help Sakura learn how to summon Katsuyu.

 

\---

 

She was still practicing her summons a week later when Ume showed up late to training. Sakura had the morning off, and Anko was helping her learn knots. Anko did not know why Ume wasn’t there. When she had gotten to the field there was a note pinned with a senbon to a tree that read, in scribbled kanji, “Will be late. Tie knots.” with a shaky drawing of a shiba under it.

The two kunoichi had progressed from tying knots to making elaborate rope traps by the time Ume reappeared, the sun finally up and over the surrounding trees.

“I have good news and bad news,” her voice was tight. She had a scroll in one hand.

Anko and Sakura exchanged an apprehensive look and simultaneously said, “Good news?”

“Tsunade wants me and Anko to continue training with you—it gives her more time to deal with the village’s affairs. Other teachers have agreed to work with us as well to train you. For the next chuunin exams you will work with Ino and Choji, so you will be training with them as well,” Ume tossed the scroll from her right hand to Anko. “The bad news is, I have to go on a mission. It might take longer than a week, so for that time you will just be training with Anko and working on your summoning.” Ume smiled thinly, “Have a good time. I hope we are all in one piece when I return.”

She waved, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	2. part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not that Kakashi missed them or had particularly enjoyed teaching them. They'd been annoying, tiny, gross practical jokers who couldn't do anything right. In fact, Kakashi had--
> 
> Oh, fuck it.

Kakashi was slouched in front of the memorial stone when the ANBU nin found him. It was still pretty early in the morning—the sun was just peeking over the tops of the large trees that surrounded Konoha. He could’ve guessed who the other ninja was, but they merely handed him a scroll and disappeared.

He was in the Hokage’s office less than five minutes later, and even Shizune seemed surprised. He had tucked the scroll into his back pouch and he only took it back out once he was alone with Tsunade herself.

Tsunade looked nonchalant, but stressed enough that Kakashi knew she was worried. She met his eyes as soon as he walked in, and knocked back another cup of sake.

The Hokage stood and began chewing on her thumb, anger seeping out of every pore in her body as Kakashi stood there. “Ume-san should be here soon, so I will wait to brief you.”

Shizune ushered Ume in mere moments after Tsunade finished that statement. Her dark eyes were hard as she tipped her head to Kakashi, a sign of acknowledgement, before focusing on the Hokage.

“Miyamoto Ume, Hatake Kakashi. I understand this is your first time working a mission together. Our informants in Yugakure have lost contact with us. It took us too long to plant them to risk letting them go at this point. You two will oversee this mission to extract our informants and get them back to Konohagakure. I chose you because of your previous records in the ANBU,” she resumed sitting in her chair, and poured herself another cup of sake.

“You will need to pose as civilians to infiltrate the village. The hot water daimyō does not take well to unannounced intruders, particularly shinobi from Konoha. Shizune will help you with your disguises, and all your necessary documentation is right here.” She pushed an envelope across the table for Kakashi to pick up. He scanned the documents while Shizune was helping Ume, then gave them to the other jounin to read.

They agreed to meet in an hour to give them time to go to their living spaces and put any affairs in order for their absence. They would be leaving from the Northern Gate, and both nin took off in opposite directions until then. Ume left to the training ground, and Kakashi went to his apartment.

He watered Mr. Ukki and strengthened the traps on the windows and the door, then took some time to double check all his weapons. Their mission was not supposed to have any fighting, but Kakashi had gone on enough infiltration missions before to know how they ended.

Before he left for the gate, Kakashi henged into his disguise—a typical looking man with sandy-brown hair—and changed his clothes so they matched.

Ume was waiting for him at a small tea stand, also in her disguise. She had turned into a small woman with light hair and a belly rotund with pregnancy (as Shizune had put it, “If you’re pregnant you always have an excuse”; Kakashi had asked "Excuse for what?" and the Hokage's assistant had just replied, "Everything"). She perked up when she saw him.

“Daisuke, here!” she waved one arm. Shizune (and Tsunade herself) had impressed that they needed to stay in-character until they retrieved Hideyoshi and Kumiko, so that meant they had to walk. All. The way. To Yugakure. As Kakashi helped the kunoichi up and grabbed their packs, he sighed. It was going to be a long mission.

 

\---

 

They found out that the two informants both had caught ill, so it was easy for the two jounin to pretend they were cousins coming to visit. From there, all they had to do was wait for the recon group to show up to take Hideyoshi and Kumiko back to Konoha. Under the guise of their family coming to take them home to heal, most of the citizens of Yugakure accepted the cover story.

But, there was a small faction of ninjas that had been planted by somebody name “Hidan,” according to the two informants. The ninjas knew that Kakashi and Ume were from Konoha and ambushed the two as soon as they got out of the city.

The only thing that had gone wrong was their hurry in getting Hideyoshi and Kumiko out of the village, Kakashi realized. The jounin cursed to himself as Ume tossed his shuriken holster and belt pouch to him. While he strapped on his weapons and prepared himself, she cut her thumb and performed the hand seals to summon her two hyenas. Kakashi tied his scarf around his face and let his henge release.

She sent the beasts out and turned back to Kakashi, breathless. “There aren’t that many of them. Do we want to risk this?”

“If it stops them from getting to the recon team, then yes.”

“Great,” Ume grumbled, double-checking that the hyenas had left.  The kunoichi dropped her henge as well, and tightened her yukata so it would not slip off in the middle of the fight.

By the time Ume and Kakashi caught up with the two hyenas, there were body parts strewn throughout the thick woods. The ground and trees dripped with blood. Kakashi wrinkled his nose and Ume groaned.

“They might’ve already been all taken care of,” Ume said, inspecting the limbs, “but it would be best to make sure.”

The three nin that had not been killed by the hyenas saw a swifter and more humane demise courtesy of the Chidori. Ume found the two beasts and led them back to where Kakashi was, asking, “Should we scout or just go?”

“We need to leave before someone finds this,” Kakashi gestured to the human remains spread across the ground. The hyenas disappeared, and they were off.

The trip back to Konohagakure was much quicker and quieter than the one to Yugakure had been, which was a relief to both shinobi. An ANBU escort met them as soon as they re-entered the Land of Fire to take them to Konoha, where Tsunade was waiting in her office.

Though his wounds were superficial at worst, Kakashi was exhausted. As soon as the Hokage cleared the ANBU out of the room, he slumped into a chair. Ume looked just as tired, though she had gotten a rather nasty cut across her shoulders.

“Good job, you two,” Tsunade’s smile was thin but sincere. “Hideyoshi and Kumiko are already recovering at the hospital. I’ll need you to give me a verbal report for now, and turn in your physical report a day from now. Then, you can go and get some rest.”

Ume sat down heavily in the only other free chair. Kakashi raised his head and looked the Hokage in the eye. He asked in a tired but (even to his own surprise) conversational tone, “What do you need to know?”

 

\---

 

“…no, we got to the village just fine. We found lodging at a little inn and, since it wasn’t that late in the day, we went to scout out the town. It was easy enough to find the shop that Hideyoshi worked at, but the owner wouldn’t tell us where he was.”

“Maa, we waited. The owner told us that they were sick and he would show us to their house the next day. They were poisoned, but they knew who we were.”

“The first day we visited them was two days before the recon team was coming. We got there and they were sick. Like, brown and chunkies were coming out of both ends. They didn't know how to deal with it, so we had our work cut out.”

“Anyway, we patched them up as best we could so they could tell us what they knew. There were some nin with ties to Akatsuki, or at least to missing-nin listed in the bingo book, in the village. They were beginning to figure out that there were foreign nin planted in the city. They were the ones who had been poisoning Hideyoshi and Kumiko.”

“Well, it’s pretty self-explanatory from there. Can we leave now?”

“I suppose so. Stop by the hospital so they can test you for poison and look over your wounds, then you are free.”

“Maa, Tsunad—”

“ _You too_ , brat. Go on.”

“Tsunade-sama?”

“Yes, Ume.”

“Can you tell Sakura-chan and Anko that I’ll still be gone for a couple days? I need a break.”

“Yes. Now make sure you stop by the hospital.”                                                                                     

“Yes, Tsunade-sama. Have a good evening.”

 

\---

 

As soon as Tsunade told him to leave, Kakashi disappeared from her office. Lingering where Shizune couldn’t see or sense him, he eavesdropped on Ume and Tsunade before grudgingly making a stop by the hospital. The jounin was quick to escape and head home.

Mr. Ukki had lost three of his leaves, but he was not looking as bad as the little house spider that was living above the fridge. Its legs curled in rigor mortis and the flies it was supposed to have been hunting were still flitting about. Kakashi opened both of the windows in the living room and strengthened his traps. Deciding that was good enough for the moment, he went to bed.

The sun’s first tentative light was just hitting the windows when Kakashi snapped awake. He rolled out of bed and landed on the wooden floor with a solid thud, relishing the chill of the floor against his bare cheek.

It was times like that—when he had just woken, or was on the verge of sleep—when Kakashi thought of all he had lost. Newly-added to his usual cycle of “Minato-sensei, Obito, Rin” and the names of various other comrades was “Sasuke”. Whenever that name came up, Kakashi had to swallow rising bile.

His first team, and he had failed in so many ways. It had almost been a relief to entrust Naruto to Jiraiya-sama, knowing that he was in over his head as it was. He had even begun to avoid Sakura, thinking in his mind that he failed her in some way as well.

That train of thought brought his mind back to the conversation he had eavesdropped on the night before. Ume seemed to be training Sakura, as well as Anko and Tsunade. Kakashi was both melancholic that he wasn’t training her at all and glad that Sakura was training with the three women. Gods above knew that the three of them together was terrifying, and forcing all that into Sakura even more so.

The sunlight had slowly worked its way down his bedroom wall while he was wangsting on the floor. It streamed across his face, and he decided it was high time to get dressed and go to the memorial stone before everyone in the village was up.

 

\---

 

Tsunade did not let Kakashi rest long. He had two and a half days of relaxation before one of the hag’s goddamn birds started tapping on his window.

She looked about as pissed off as Kakashi felt when he made it into her office. The Hokage was barking sharp orders at Shizune and other paper-pushers that the Copy-nin couldn’t make out. When she noticed him, she glared him down, “Intel has received a list of purported enemy spies up and down the region.”

“Which enemy?” as soon as it came out of his mouth, Kakashi realized with mild horror that he wasn’t just thinking it, but, in fact, had said it out loud. Tsunade glowered at him.

“Your sense of humor doesn’t make this easier.”

He tried to make his visible face look mortified, but failed. Thinking of sad things so as not to howl with laughter did not work that well. Especially in front of a woman who could decapitate him with one finger.

The Hokage sighed, propping her feet up on another chair and folding her arms over her ample bosom. “Inoichi and his team can only guess at this point. Most of the signs point to missing-nin from Kirigakure, but we still don’t have a grasp on their employers. These three,” she tossed three files to him, “are yours. Guarantee identity and bring them in. Now clear out. Shizune has the write-up.”

As he was leaving, at least three other jounin were coming in to the tower. Kakashi was not the only one assigned to bring the potential spies in, and he did not envy the apparent circus that was the Hokage’s life at that point.

 

\---

 

The three that Kakashi had to hunt down were all within a twenty kilometer radius of Konohagakure. Two were in a small farming community and the last was in Konoha itself, marauding as a waitress. Kakashi couldn't see how any of them would glean useful information in those locations.

It took little effort for Kakashi to capture the first two, though Shizune had told him that they were high-ranked missing-nin. They had grown lax in their time as part of the small community, knowing that none of their neighbors were nin. It only took two senbon dipped in a paralyzing agent, and they were trussed up and given to Ibiki.

The waitress was a harder problem to solve; she had reason to keep her skills sharp, and if her file was anything to go by, they were very sharp. She was suspect in over ten assassinations in the past three years alone. Ibiki also guessed that she was the source of some dissident grumbles against the new Hokage.

Kakashi thought he had the drop on her one night as she left a bar with a friend, giggling and stumbling drunk. The two women parted ways and Kakashi knew, _knew_ he couldn’t rely on her being drunk. But the success of capturing the first two nin unaware and unprepared lowered his expectations.

She launched herself at him when he neared her apartment building with a heavy body slam. It almost broke his collarbone and several of his ribs, and sent both of them into the trees. She leveled a fistful of senbon at him, and Kakashi had to quickly flip out his tanto to block the spray.

Despite the protesting muscles in his torso, Kakashi threw senbon of his own at her. None of them hit their mark—she retreated among the trees, slipping into darkness.

The only thing Kakashi could think at that point was shit as he summoned his pack, sending them out to hunt down the woman. Her file had stated that she had a _meiton kekkai genkai_ that allowed her to slip into shadows, as well as absorb her opponent’s chakra.

Two yips several meters to his right alerted him, and he crouched next to Uuhei and Pakkun, Sharingan uncovered, a moment later. He couldn’t hope to copy her techniques, but the Sharingan at least allowed him to track her movements and chakra flow.

She sent out three arrow-like beams of chakra, looking for his to latch onto, but the Copy-nin jumped away. He twisted and sent a flurry of shuriken and kunai toward her. A short, angry yell told him one of them hit her. Just as his feet touched the ground again, she sent out more chakra arrows.

All Kakashi could do was run away from her chakra beams, chucking anything sharp on his person in her general direction. The missing-nin finally stopped after four more barrages, needing to recharge her chakra.

Kakashi took that moment to gather lightning at his fingertips in an attack of his own. Moving as quickly as he could, the silver-haired nin directed the lightning at the area the woman was hiding in. The flash allowed him to see her, trying to slip back into the shadows.

The next bolt of lightning went directly to the base of her skull, paralyzing her.

That stint earned him a bitching out from Tsunade. He didn’t really care. Neither did she.

 

\---

 

Missions kept him out of Konohagakure for several more weeks. A circus of escorting, political frippery, and even a couple of intel-gathering missions kept him busy. Ibiki’s people were spread thin in light of Orochimaru’s attack on the city. The torture-master wouldn’t say no to Tsunade supplementing his people with hers.

 The continuous workload was bad enough. But that combined with his lack of contact with anyone except Tsunade, Ibiki, and the one chuunin that always manned the mission desk when he was there made Kakashi bonkers. He was lonely, of all things. It was bizarre. Once he was free of his little genin team, the famous Copy-nin was sure he would go back to doing missions and ignoring the rest of the world.

 But that wasn’t the way it was to be, apparently. He came to this realization in the middle of an information-gathering mission gone awry as he stabbed a shadow clone through the gut and it dissolved. Three more came at him, only to be finished like the first. When the clones finally stopped coming, Kakashi stopped to catch his breath before Raikiri-ing the hell out of all the missing-nin in the clearing.

 Once he made it back to Konohagakure and the mission room, he would ask for a break, Kakashi decided, shaking the blood off of his hand. Then he would ask Tsunade if he could train with Sakura a little.

Maybe after that he would visit the Memorial Stone, and bring Obito and Rin and Minato-sensei up to speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: so yeah, I’ve begun fudging the dates a little bit. If anyone would be interested in me putting together an actual timeline so y’all can get the dates right, I can totally do that! (BECAUSE I AM THE BIGGEST NERD)  
> And honestly Kakashi strikes me as the type of person who is so stubborn and stupid in his ways that he is reckless in some situations, and obviously after Team 7 he got a little fucked up (I mean c’mon one of them was the kyuubi’s host and the other has so many rage problems he could make the world-wide yearly rage quota in like two days--sakura was the least fucked up out of all of them in my opinion)  
> and shoutout to robin, this comment will make my day forever and always: this frees you up to write the 50,000+ word narusasu fanfic you have always dreamed of  
> haha byyyyyeee


	3. part three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura guessed that one day she would regret breaking Choji's wrist, but it was not yet that day. Plus, they had actually passed the Chuunin Exams this time around, so why was anyone complaining?

Sakura took the pole that Asuma had given her, snapped it in two, and experimentally spun the shorter lengths. She would have preferred them to be sharp, but there was only so much she could do on such a short notice. Ino and Choji were already whacking each other’s fingers with staves, watched by their teacher.

The pink-haired girl joined the fray with simultaneous raps to both of the other genin’s thumbs. Asuma had been running them through all kinds of scenarios to prepare them for future missions and for the chuunin exams. The Hokage and Kazekage had announced the exams as a split between Sunagakure and Konohagakure at the end of the year. Tsunade had divulged that information to Sakura earlier, while still planning. The new Hokage hoped that the news would lift her student’s spirits.

For the most part, Sakura was happier. She enjoyed working at the hospital with Tsunade, and splitting her afternoons with training and work in the Hokage Tower. The biggest change, though, was that she got to hang out with other genin her age.

Despite her future looking pretty damn bright, there was one dark speck on the horizon. Kakashi had asked to join Sakura’s weekly training session with Anko and Ume that week. Constraints on Ume’s schedule—and the number of missions she had to take—and Anko’s teaching schedule only allowed them to train together once a week.  Sakura only had two more days to prepare herself for the horror that she expected their session would be.

Choji got two hard whacks to her wrists before Sakura shook herself out of her funk  to block the hits that Ino was aiming at her. She smacked Choji’s staff out of his hands and swept it under his legs, sending him to the ground. She performed a similar series of moves to knock Ino to the ground. Asuma moved in to help Choji up, and he seemed to notice the frown on Sakura’s face as she helped Ino up. He asked her to hang back after dismissing the other two.

“Are you doing okay, Sakura?” Asuma lit another cigarette and looked the girl square in the eyes. “Your mind seemed to be on something else.”

“It’s nothing, Asuma-sensei. Just old thoughts,” she gave him a tight smile. “Do you need anything else?”

“I was actually wondering if you have done any training involving genjutsu—I know you have an affinity for it. Kakashi never said anything about specific training, though.”

“Maa, well, I learned some basic stuff—dispelling and chakra chanelling, but that was it. We never had much time,” Sakura leaned forward, excitement pooling in her gut. Genjutsu was the one thing that Tsunade didn’t want to teach her. The Hokage had a slight aversion to it because most illusions involved lots of blood in one way or another. Anko and Ume were not much help either, because they were both so specialized. She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice—and tried to tamp down the hope in her stomach, “is there a chance that I can learn to use it?”

Asuma blew out smoke and offered her a small smile, “If everyone does well in the chuunin exams, Kurenai-san offered to teach you. She will have more time after the exams are over.”

“Thank you, Asuma-sensei!” Sakura couldn’t help the bow she started to give him on instinct.

He set one large, gentle hand on her shoulder, stopping her from bowing. “If you want to thank someone, thank Kurenai. And Kakashi—but anyway, head home for now. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

She returned his wave goodbye and ran off, impending session with Kakashi forgotten. Though, when she looked back, there was no reason for her to be worried.

The training session wasn’t terrible, in the end. It was a bit awkward at first, but anything involving Ume and Anko combined was quick to lose any awkwardness. Kakashi praised her stealth skills and expressed interest in training with her once she started learning how to use genjutsu. Sakura got the feeling that he was the one who approached Kurenai in the first place.

Shizune helped her pick out some books on genjutsu from the Hokage’s library, as enthusiastic as Sakura was. The pink-haired girl devoured those books late at night when she should have been sleeping. Her mother remained patient with her appetite for learning, and found some energy-boosting tea for the sleepy mornings that followed.

Sakura didn’t see her parents much. They were often away on missions when she had free time, and would return when she had a heavy workload and was away from the house. When home, her father would come and sit with her while she took notes on medical texts, or her mother would bring her tea and talk to her about anything and everything. It was an odd shift, but Sakura was grateful for their support.

 

\---

 

Sakura was three weeks into her first patients and she felt good. The past week and a half she had spent solely with Choji and Ino, training for the chuunin exams. They worked pretty well as a team (when Ino wasn’t being a stupid pig and Choji wasn’t whining and Sakura wasn’t thinking of Sasuke). Asuma said he had pretty high hopes for them passing this time around.

Double-checking her clipboard and making sure she signed all the proper paperwork, she returned to the nurse’s circulation desk to file the papers. One more visit to Genma, her patient, and he checked out with a series of appointments for physical therapy and a month of mandatory rest. The other medic-nin at the nurse’s desk went over all the papers and stamped them, then Sakura signed out for the day.

It was late in the afternoon, sun crawling toward the treetops on the western side of Konoha. A light breeze ruffled Sakura’s short hair, drying the sweat on her neck and cooling her head. Without anything else to do, she decided to get a late lunch and see if Shizune needed any help at the Hokage Tower.

On her way to the Hokage Tower, Sakura ran into Kiba and Akamaru. Both boy and dog were stuck in an awkward stage of growth where they were all bean-pole limbs and no grace. When Kiba saw Sakura, he almost tripped over his own feet, and ended up falling over Akamaru into the dust of the street.

The pink-haired girl helped him up, trying not to giggle. “Meeting with Hinata and Shino, Kiba-kun?”

“Y-yes,” the Inuzuka brushed the dust off his front, cheeks reddened with embarrassment. “We’re training for the exams today.”

She nodded at that statement, “It’ll be nice to take the exams. Everything has felt so frenzied lately.” Looking back at the boy, she caught him staring at her. “What? Is there something on my face?” Sakura demanded.

The blush returned and he shook his head, reaching for Akamaru as a distraction. “You just—are different. I-in a good way, I mean. How is training with Ino and Choji?”

Sakura decided to just go with Kiba’s change of topic, and replied, “It’s training—I mean, all our training is pretty much the same.” She hadn’t realized that they had continued walking, and had reached the Tower by the time she finished her statement.

Kiba bade her goodbye, still flushed, and took off with Akamaru toward the training grounds.

 

\---

 

She broke Choji’s wrist on accident in July, earning Ino’s reluctant respect. They were stuck in team missions for three weeks and the boy’s near-constant complaining finally caused her to snap and slug him. Asuma had berated her for that, but since she and Ino had patched him up their teacher had no big cause to complain.

As soon as they returned to the village Tsunade threw Sakura back into the hospital rotations. Their lessons resumed, as well. Her brisk approach was a sweet respite after months of being stuck with Asuma, though she still had to train with Choji and Ino. They had three and a half months until the Chuunin Exams, time that passed in a blur of aching muscles and loud arguments.

They spent a week and a half in Konohagakure and three days travelling to Sunagakure. Then, another month in five exhaustive rounds of team-based battles, before they were finally done with the Chuunin Exams. Of the 23 teams of genin from Konoha who had gone to Suna, 11 returned home triumphant and promoted and all returned exhausted.

Sakura did not hesitate to admit that it was nice to be home. Her parents showered her with solstice gifts, and she showered them in return. Tsunade allowed most of the nin in the village a well-deserved break, which was well received by all.

They had another week and a half of peace and quiet, and then the snow hit.

The hospital was almost empty when Sakura was finishing her rounds on the 15th of January.  There were only a couple of patients ensconced in the warmth of the first floor, the rest of the building boarded up. It was with relish that Sakura handed off control to one of the older medic nins when her shift was over.

Snow was beginning to fall as she left the hospital and made her way home. Tsunade had suspended her lessons again due to some problems that were cropping up between daimyos in the region. She also didn’t have training with Kurenai because the woman was on a mission in more temperate climes. Those cancellations meant that she had the rest of the day to herself.

“I’m home!” she called as she toed her boots off in the foyer. A fire was crackling behind the grate in the living room, but her parents were nowhere to be found. Sakura found a folded note that she took with her to her closed bedroom. It was in her mother’s handwriting, and read “Sakura—we are on another mission. Supposed to snow a lot tonight; keep the fire going. Stay safe!”

She groaned and grabbed some blankets from her closet, shivering despite herself. It would take a while for her room to warm up, so she decided it would be easier to sleep out in the living room. And sleep she did.

The fire remained high in the morning when she awoke. Sakura stretched, picked up the books she had scattered, and moved to open the drapes.

Everything was white. Snow was still falling thickly, the fast winds whipping it into a frenzy. Sakura could feel the chill of the piled snow through the windows, touching her fingers. Everything else would have to wait.

She checked the kitchen, made sure she had food and wood enough to get her by. Then her coat and boots went on, followed by a large pair of mittens and a scarf. Sakura didn’t know if the hospital would even be open for more than the bare necessities. But, she was covering a shift later in the day and figured she would have to leave early to make sure she was still needed.

It took her an hour to struggle through the frozen village to the hospital. Nobody else was daring to wander out of their warm homes, so the village was completely silent. When she finally got there, the medic-nins warmed her up and turned her back, telling her to stay home and keep warm.

Sakura made it home and shrugged her ice-encrusted clothes off, built up the fire, and settled in to wait the storm out.

 

\---

 

Sakura had always been glad that her family’s home was on a hill. She could look out of the front door and see most of Konoha laid out before her. And, because they were somewhat hidden in the woods, the Haruno didn’t have many neighbors. But she was most thankful that flood-waters could never reach them.

And, boy, was it flooding. The blizzards in January and the beginning of February had piled up the snow in record-breaking 20 foot drifts. The entire region shut down for two solid months. Then, a seasonally odd spate of warm weather in mid-February meant that all that snow melted, and fast. The waters didn’t even refreeze, despite the return of the chill temperatures.

Iruka-sensei hefted a sandbag to her, which she placed on an ever-growing pile. Everyone, nin or no, was helping to shore up the banks of the river that flowed through the eastern part of Konohagakure. There weren’t many houses along the banks, but the waters were getting high enough that many houses were threatened. The water was also close to making its way down to the Hokage Tower and Academy.

They had started the barriers with dikes of earth raised by the village’s _doton_ -users. The few _suiton_ -users were also roped in to redirect the flow of the water away from the village. Sakura paused to shake her hair out of her face. Kakashi-sensei was in the hospital because of that and because of his own stupidity. He’d been working with a nin named Noriko to raise the dikes and had overtaxed himself. Noriko wasn’t in much better shape.

They managed to finish shoring up the banks within another couple of hours. Sakura stopped by her house to freshen up, then headed back into the village.

 

\---

 

Sakura was in the hospital, leading a retired nin through some physical therapy exercises, when she heard the news. Well—not so much heard the news as heard the loud yelling of Ebisu near the front desk. She finished up with the retired nin and escorted him to the front desk to sign out as quick as she could. Ebisu was still yelling at the desk, held by Shizune and the Hokage.

Most of what he was saying was hard to pick out, his words garbled by some poison, but she got the gist. Konohamaru seemed to have either run off or had been taken. Kurenai’s team stood by with a unit of ANBU, debriefing. As Sakura watched, the two teams disappeared through the front doors. She ran to help Tsunade and Shizune with the teacher, who was now foaming at the mouth.

Tsunade left them, leaving Shizune in charge and Sakura with orders to report when the teams got back. The two medics got Ebisu sedated and were running a poison workup when a new, loud commotion ensued in the hall. The two teams were back, and their news was good, but also bad.

Konohamaru was safe under ANBU care and Kiba and Hinata were being checked in to the hospital when Sakura burst in to Tsunade’s office. Her eyes were murderous and her hands were full with the report from Shizune and the medic-nins. The Hokage had been talking with Ibiki, but broke off when her student appeared.

“Sakura, report.”

The pink-haired young woman snapped to attention and handed the crumpled report over to her teacher. Tsunade skimmed the document, handed it off to Ibiki. She turned back to her student. Sakura felt good—felt strong. She flexed one hand and grinned at her sensei, feral and full of rage, “I'll get that scum before they hurt any more of my friends.”

Tsunade nodded, her face blank and impassive, “Kakashi will meet you at the gate. Stay safe.”

The pink-haired kunoichi nodded and left in a flare of smoke.

Kakashi didn’t say anything to her but immediately took off when she appeared. Sakura followed behind.

 

\---

 

Sakura was thankful that the tea shop to which her sensei had tracked the mercenaries was in the middle of nowhere—a clearing beside the empty road. A _maiko_ and her bodyguard sat at one of the tables nearest the exit, and the only other civilian was the owner, who was brewing a new pot of tea for the nin they were tracking. Few enough people that Sakura didn’t worry about them getting in the way.

The _maiko_ had started playing a song on her shamisen for the mercenaries when Kakashi appeared in the middle of the shop. One of the missing-nin, a wiry fellow, took off as quickly as he could, heading into the forest. Kakashi followed. The other three were not as quick to react.

Sakura jumped among them when they finally blundered outside. The bulkiest nin, who looked to be the leader, was the first to rush her. Her fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him flying back across the clearing. The chakra she had channeled into the punch had immediately knocked him out and paralyzed him. It didn’t, however, stop his jaw from breaking.

The next nin got the beautiful shamisen cracked over his head and a direct punch to the face, which left him reeling and near-unconscious. He attempted to stumble to her, but one kick with her leg left him sprawled on the ground.

Sakura stopped to grab the bottle of spirits that had tumbled out of the tea stand with them, and smashed it over the final missing-nin’s head. Glass flew as she sunk one fist into his gut, his grasping arms falling limp from the blow.

The din quieted; Kakashi reappeared with the one missing-nin who had tried to escape slung over one of his shoulders. The owner of the tea shop also returned, a pair of well-used tanto in her hands and her eyes wary. She supplied some rope so they could truss up the four nin and accepted a ticket of repayment for the damages wrought to the stand itself.

Sakura picked up the shamisen, regret wrought on her face as she turned the beautiful, though mangled, instrument in her hands. “I don’t suppose that _maiko_ stayed around?” she asked her teacher.

Kakashi shook his head, and the girl reconsidered the shamisen.

“Maybe Iruka-sensei can fix it—it’s too pretty to just leave here,” she muttered to herself, pushing the broken pieces into her medic pouch.

Kakashi summoned Buru to carry the missing-nin back to the village, and the two nin followed behind the large dog. Ibiki awaited them, his face looking much less murderous than it had been when they left. He accepted custody of the roped nin in an almost jolly manner.

Tsunade awaited them in her tower, likewise looking less stressed than she had been. She waved them to sit before saying, “Report.”

“Tracked them to a tea stand around five kilometers south of the city. All four of them were waiting there.  Engaged and incapacitated them, and upon return turned them over to Ibiki for interrogation,” Sakura wearily recounted the events.

“Maa, something was odd, Tsunade-sama,” Kakashi looked from his student to the Hokage. “One ran off. I caught him, but it seemed he was trying to catch up with someone else.”

The Hokage growled, leaning back in her own chair. “So there’s at least one still out there. Shizune!” The Hokage’s assistant stuck her head in the door, “Round up two ANBU teams and send them here. You two,” her attention turned back to Kakashi and Sakura, and she said, “Go home. Get some rest, and report in tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha i'm alive :D  
> So i do actually have a timeline of what happens throughout the story i'm just not fucking motivated at all to sit down and slam out any more chapters.  
> coming soon: dating! Slugs! and why does Kakashi-sensei keep looking at Iruka-sensei like that??


	4. part four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura wouldn't lie, the biggest reason she agreed to the date was for free food. When it turned out he was good at conversation and intelligent? Well, then Sakura realized she was screwed to hell and back.

A date. A real date. Sakura thought her head was going to explode or Sasuke was going to pop up and start laughing at her for falling under his genjutsu. Ino set her hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

“Sakura, chill. It’s just one date,” the blonde tugged her friend’s hair so it would lay flat. “And, he’s still injured. If you’re having a bad time you just need to kick him in the leg and run away.” Ino rolled her eyes at the matching looks of horror that Sakura and Hinata gave her. “Sorry, I guess that was tasteless.”

“You’ll be fine, Sakura-chan,” Hinata offered her a small, shy smile. “Kiba-kun is probably more nervous than you are.”

Sakura hoped he was. She fidgeted with the dark blue fabric of her dress until Ino made her stop. The other girl pressed a bag into her hands and gave her a final once-over. “Well, if he doesn’t think you’re hot, there’s nothing more I can do to convince him,” she said. “Right, so what are you doing tonight?”

“Dinner,” Sakura said, firm. “I mean, he is still injured.”

“Not too injured to—” before Ino could finish her suggestive statement, Hinata had a hand clapped over her mouth, looking disturbed.

“Please no,” the girl said, shocked to quieter than normal, her white eyes horrified. When she turned to Sakura, there was another small, quivering smile on her face. “That sounds great, Sakura-chan. I hope you both have a good time.”

They did have a good time. Kiba was almost heartbreakingly nervous, but they found topics to talk about. Sakura learned a lot about the Inuzuka, and Akamaru seemed to take a liking to her. Kiba reminded her of Naruto, in a way—they were both eager, headstrong, and courageous to the point of stupidity. But where the blonde was somewhat of an idiot, Kiba was very intelligent.

Sakura was most surprised to learn that he was learning some veterinary medical ninjutsu from his older sister, Hana. She had sometimes seen the older Inuzuka at the hospital taking interns for veterinary lessons. They had never had the chance to speak, though. From the image Kiba painted of her, Hana seemed to be sweet and good-natured for an Inuzuka.

After being passive-aggressively forced out of the sushi shop by their exhausted waiter, they wandered. They walked down past the river, now calm and gently lapping at its banks. Conversation came easier, and their silences were comfortable.

“Ah, S-sakura-chan?” Kiba hesitantly asked as they neared her house, his tattoos blending into the red that colored his cheeks.

“Yes?”

“Wo-would you, I mean—are you free this Friday?” he looked up from Akamaru and met her blue-green eyes with his own black ones. “There’s an archery competition and festival. I promised Hinata I would go cheer her on.”

“I’d love to!” Sakura felt her heart flip-flop at the wide smile he gave her. Then she thought back on what he had said, surprise spreading across her features, “Hinata does kyudo?”

 

\---

 

Sakura, like many of her friends, was both very surprised and not surprised at all when both Neji and Shino took the Jounin exams and passed. In fact, the only reason for surprise was because most of them heard the news late. Ino had arranged a hanami in early May, due to the lateness of the trees’ blossoming, and Hinata mentioned it in passing. They were at Sakura’s making bento for the viewing when she offhandedly mentioned, "Neji-kun and Shino-kun are still recovering from the Jonin exams. They're both doing well, though."

“Nee, didn’t the exams finish three days ago?” Ino asked the quiet girl, incredulous at her casual tone.

“Yes,” Hinata looked from Sakura to Ino, surprise on her delicate features, “you mean neither of you knew?”

Sakura considered, shaping a rice ball as she thought. “Well, they don’t post lists of those taking the examinations like for the Chuunin exam, since the Jonin exams are based on nominations.” She tapped her chin with a finger, getting rice in her hair, “And neither of us are particularly close to Shino-kun or Neji-kun. I bet they both did well.”

Hinata smiled, looking fit to burst with pride. “They both were appointed,” she said. “Kurenai-sensei told me.”

They had a few minutes of incoherent celebration before Ino, beginning to calm down, mentioned, “Wait, this means they can have Genin teams now.” She started laughing, nearly to hysterics, “I-imagine _Neji_ with _Genin_ , oh gods, he w-would kill them!”

It took them a while to get themselves back under control. Hinata was crying from laughing at the thought of her cousin leading a team of hyperactive Genin. Once they had calmed, Sakura asked the room in general, “So, are they going to be with us tonight?”

“I know Neji-kun will be,” Hinata wrapped a roll of sushi and began cutting it. “Shino-kun might not; Kurenai-sensei said he starts on missions soon. I’ll ask him later.”

Ino began laying slices of salmon over the grill, and they fell back into a comfortable silence. Less than an hour later, they had the bento packed. All of their friends were going to be meeting them that afternoon, so they still had three hours to kill. Sakura was taking Hinata shopping, then going to pick up some extra desserts at the store near her house. The other girl said she needed a new kimono for the winter. Ino was heading back to her parents’ shop to help with some flower arrangements.

Hinata and Sakura split a little over two hours later after leaving the kimono maker’s. The purple-haired girl had some ideas for fabric choices when she went back with her parents to buy the kimono itself.  Sakura managed to find more hair ties, as she went through them at a ridiculous pace at the hospital. By the time she had changed into her dark red yukata and wrapped the bento, Kiba waited outside her house.

Akamaru whuffed when he saw her, bounding forward to place a sloppy lick on her cheek. A soft chuckle left her lips as she ruffled the soft fur atop the dog’s head, then moved forward to take Kiba’s hand and tug him in the direction of the cherry trees. They didn’t speak until they were in sight of the pink blossoms.

“Hey, there’s Hinata-chan and Neji-kun!” Sakura nudged the boy with her hip. He raised his free hand in greeting.

Hinata waved in return, and bent to greet Akamaru when the dog approached. Neji looked exhausted, but mustered up enough energy to say, “Hello, Kiba, Sakura.”

“Good job on your exam, Neji,” Kiba smirked at him.

“Yes, congratulations!” Sakura added, tugging at Kiba’s arm again. They chatted aimlessly as they kept going, eventually joined by Shikamaru and Choji. Ino and Tenten waited for them under the cherry blossoms, mats already laid out at the base of a large tree everyone in the city called “Oji-san.”

“Is Lee-kun not coming?” Hinata asked Tenten, helping her cousin sit.

Tenten shrugged, helping Sakura get the bento down before replying, “You know Guy-sensei. They were off running laps last time I saw them, but he does know.”

“Shino-kun isn’t coming,” Hinata added. “He starts on a mission tomorrow.”

Kiba helped Sakura sit, and Akamaru laid in front of them. The teens sprawled out, gossiping and eating. Lee did, in fact, join them. He arrived only a half an hour after they opened the bento boxes, looking sheepish.

“Nice of you to join us, Lee,” Tenten punched him in the arm as he sat.

“Sorry, sorry,” the boy said in an embarrassed tone, “Guy-sensei and I were—”

“Training!” Kiba and Sakura chorused at the same time. They grinned broadly at each other and Akamaru yipped in amusement.

Lee ducked his head in embarrassment, “Yes. Ora, Sakura-chan?” He looked at her as Ino passed him a rice ball.

“Yes?”

“Any news from Naruto-kun?”

Sakura considered. Iruka was regularly receiving letters from the hyperactive blond, and he would share them with her when he had the chance. “Last I heard, he and Jiraiya-sama were in Kumogakure,” she said, staring at the cherry blossoms as she thought. “That was a couple of weeks ago. He says he’s learning a lot, though.”

“Nee, must be fun,” Ino wryly commented, stealing a piece of grilled salmon from Choji, “travelling all over the world. And with Jiraiya-sama, too.”

“In-ooo,” Choji whined, picking up a different piece. “I wouldn’t want to—where would you find enough food while travelling?” He sounded anxious at the thought.

“I wouldn’t want to go with Jiraiya-sama,” Sakura said. “He’s a perv.”

“Doesn’t he write those books that Kakashi-san is always reading?”

Their discussion of Kakashi’s choice in literature somehow looped around to Shikamaru’s substitute position at the school, then back to Kakashi and his weird tendency to pop up at the school unannounced. It was amusing for Sakura to see her friends try to understand her former sensei. She found that, if she didn’t try to think about his motivations, they became clear to her. Or, she would never figure it out. It was easier that way.

“—well, obviously he and Ebisu are trading porn,” Kiba said, with a devilish grin. Their theories ranged from drugs to brainwashing the children. Sakura smacked him on the shoulder.

“That’s gross!”

“Maa, no, he doesn’t go near Ebisu-sensei’s classroom,” Shikamaru finally added. “I think he mostly just annoys Iruka-sensei.”

“Interesting,” Sakura commented.

She felt eight pairs of interested eyes on her. “Do you know something about this, Sakura?” Ino asked her, suspicious.

“No, no,” she waved a hand. “Just surprised. Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei haven’t been on the best of terms. Is there any mochi left?” Her friends resumed conversation about less confusing matters. Sakura thought she had gotten away with it until Kiba spoke close to her ear, his voice low and amused.

“You do know something.”

She jumped, and swatted him on the arm again. “I’ll tell you later.”

They were going to get tea when Kiba brought it up again. Sakura was devoid of the bento because Choji had laid claim to the leftovers and Ino had assured her the box would find its way back. They had said goodbye to the last of their friends under the cherry blossoms before wandering back into Konoha.

“So, what was that about Kakashi-san and Iruka-sensei you were avoiding?” he asked, slinging an arm around her waist as they entered the teahouse.

“A theory,” she glanced around to ensure no one would hear them, before continuing. Her voice was barely over a murmur, “a slightly stupid theory brought on by lack of sleep and two consecutive shifts at the hospital. Do you remember before our first Chuunin Exams?”

“Ah, Iruka-sensei’s famous blowup,” he ordered them tea and dango, sitting down and tucking Sakura next to him. She blushed at the closeness. “What about it?”

“Um, well,” she recollected her thoughts and tried to form them into coherent sentences. “Kakashi-sensei has always been weird about Iruka-sensei, since before we had him as a teacher, I’m guessing. After Iruka-sensei confronting him, he got even weirder.”

“How so?” Kiba poured them each a cup of tea.

“Well, uh, maybe it’s best if I use a comparison?” her smile became a little more mischievous. “You know how Hinata acts around Naruto?” The confusion on Kiba’s face gave way to amused comprehension.

“Kakashi-sensei acts like _Hinata_?” a smile twitched at the corners of his lips, and before Sakura could shush him he began to laugh uncontrollably. It didn't take much for her to join in, also appreciative of the bizarre nature of her former teacher.

Their waiter returned with dango and tea to find two of Konoha’s deadliest sprawled in their booth, laughing hysterically. She set the tray down and fled as quickly as possible.

 

\---

 

She occasionally watched Kiba train with Akamaru and Hinata. Shino joined them when he was not on missions or catching up on sleep. The way they sparred was flawless and fluid, exploiting each other’s weaknesses with practiced ease. Shino would win, whenever he showed up awake and coherent. Hinata and Kiba were so closely matched that nearly every round lacked a conclusive ending.

Kurenai-sensei still helped the new chuunin train and went on team missions with them. Sakura envied that closeness. She hadn’t seen Kakashi for some weeks, and the only contact with Naruto was his unreliable letters to Iruka. Kurenai-sensei trained her, as did Tsunade, but other than that her contact with others was limited to hospital visits and the dates that she went on with Kiba when he wasn’t on missions.

Due to her position as a medic-nin and Tsunade’s protégé, it was difficult for Sakura to go on missions. The Hokage had made it very clear that she didn’t want Sakura on any B-rank missions, though she was more than capable. She said it had only to do with Sakura’s status as a medic-nin, but Sakura had a feeling that this restriction was based on the odds of her running into Sasuke or Naruto.

She had calculated those odds herself: they were low enough that it didn’t matter.

Shortly put, Sakura felt confined. And for a chuunin with massive amounts of strength, medical knowledge, and boredom to match both, being left to stew was a bad thing. She was beginning to understand why Naruto had been such a prankster in his younger years. Being ignored sucked.

The last straw was when Tsunade ordered her to take a week of holiday from the hospital. There was no reason for her to take a break, Sakura fumed as she left the hospital for her new apartment. Their patient load was minimal, at worst. It allowed her to spend more time reading the advanced treatises that she had not been advanced enough to understand before. Shizune had allowed her to check a bunch of them out for at-home reading, but it was easier to read them in the hospital’s reading room. She liked having access to all the reference materials there.

But when she thought of pranking, well. That seemed like an interesting road to deviate down for a little while.

Two days later, Kurenai and Asuma were sporting hair that would change color every couple hours, a band of laid-up chuunin kept finding that their weapons pouches were full of root vegetables, and all  Tsunade’s hidden sake flasks had been exchanged for an identical looking mix of aloe juice and used rice-water. Nobody suspected Sakura, but everyone suspected Kiba, or the previous Hokage’s grandson. It was dastardly and hilarious, and might have backfired, but Sakura didn’t care. Not even Kiba suspected that it was her.

The third day, she was in the middle of modifying a tag to stick on Neji when she saw him. It would make the word “idiot” appear on his forehead protector, and be visible to everyone but him. After a restless morning of planning, Kakashi appeared in the window of her apartment.

The tag exploded in her hands when she channeled chakra into it. It was a safe-guard so no one would see it and suspect her, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like a bitch. She hissed and smacked the smoldering remains out, turning to her former teacher.

Kakashi had a look in his eye that was something like desperation though he hid it well. And he probably wouldn't admit it under pain of death. It was temporarily replaced by confusion in the face of Sakura’s self-induced explosion, but returned as quick as it left.

“Kakashi-sensei!” she scolded, “give me some warning next time!”

“Maa, Sakura,” he ignored that and waved a hand at her. “Why does that Inuzuka brat keep laughing at me whenever I see him?”

“Why,” Sakura blinked at him, conveying her confusion, “are you asking me?”

“Because you are always with him.” Shit, he even sounded desperate. Even if he started the puppy-dog eyes that he was so good at, Sakura knew she couldn’t fold. She was the reason Kiba laughed hysterically at Kakashi until the older nin disappeared from sight. He had told her as much when they had gone out for dango the night before.

“Kakashi-sensei, maybe you should ask him,” Sakura tried her damnedest to sound exasperated and not amused. “I don’t know what everyone is thinking all the time.” She sorted the tags by their designation, smoke, poison gas, explosive, and sleeping gas, to avoid his eyes.

He let out the longest sigh Sakura thought she ever heard from anyone except for Shikamaru, and turned to go. “Wait,” she said, an impulsive thought gripping her. Despite that, she didn't really know what to say next. She fished some of the poison tags and handed them to him, followed by several small vials of antidote. “They’re a special blend. I know you have a mission.”

Kakashi wordlessly looked from the poison to her, cocked his head to the side, and disappeared. Sakura waited several minutes before resuming her work with a new tag. She switched up the design, modifying it for Kakashi’s chakra signature, and changing the word to “brat.”

In the long run, it wouldn’t help Kakashi woo Iruka-sensei. But, honestly, he was such a mopey bastard that Sakura didn’t mind making life just slightly harder for him.

 

\---

 

Katsuyu was huge. Sakura had seen her before, and had summoned parts of her, but fully-formed, the slug was massive.  She was thankful that the training ground above the monument was empty in the afternoon. Wiping the fringe from her eyes with one sweaty hand and panting, Sakura surveyed the field. Katsuyu towered over her and Tsunade watched from atop the First’s head, taking an occasional swig of sake.

“Good job, Sakura-chan,” the slug said, voice kind. “You have improved greatly.”

“Thank you, Katsuyu-sama,” Sakura bowed, and released the jutsu. Katsuyu disappeared in a massive spread of smoke, and Sakura dropped her hands to her knees, exhausted.

“Sakura-chan,” the girl looked up to her teacher. Tsunade was striding toward her, a grin set on her face. She stopped in front of her student, hands on hips, and said, “This is it.”

Sakura snapped up, “It’s it, shishou?”

“You’ve done it,” the Hokage’s grin widened. “Your chakra control is as fine as I can help it be. There is still medical jutsu and skills you need to learn, but as far as ninjutsu, I have taught you all I can.”

The younger kunoichi’s eyes widened, and she bowed deep, “Thank you for teaching me, Tsunade-shishou.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Tsunade turned on her heel and began striding off. “We still have your hospital shifts.” Sakura allowed herself a satisfied smile, and followed her teacher. It was nice to be working again.

Though, Sakura wouldn’t lie. It was _very_ tempting to dye the Hokage’s hair an obnoxious green in revenge.

 

\---

 

Kiba was going to die. Sakura was so embarrassed she wanted to die, but not before slaughtering her boyfriend. They had been invited to Ume’s family home for a solstice party, the same solstice party that all of them had heard legends about while in the Academy. But that wasn't important. What was important was that Kiba had taken the opportunity, two days before the event, to make a spectacle of himself.

She had taken her lunch in the hospital’s cafeteria and was sitting with several other medics. They were talking about a surgery that Tsunade had performed that morning. While discussing the benefits of rerouting the circulatory system, Kiba approached, trailing Akamaru, Hinata, and Choji. Choji had a biwa in his large hands, and Hinata was smiling broadly. It wasn’t unheard of for Kiba to show up so he and Sakura could mack on each other while they had time, but Kiba and a posse was suspicious.

He gave her a wink and before she could say anything, nodded to Choji, who began playing. Kiba and Hinata launched into a traditional song. It was about a woman whose lover left her, and she thought she would never love again. At least until another man, returning from war, wooed her and they ended up getting married. Sakura was torn between complete, overwhelming adoration for Kiba, and wanting to melt into the ground out of sheer embarrassment. On the positive side, both Kiba and Hinata had beautiful voices, and Choji played with an amazing grace.

When the song was done, there was complete silence in the cafeteria. Kiba swooped forward, grabbed Sakura, and dipped her so low her tied-back hair brushed the floor. “I will meet you at your place tonight,” he whispered. “My mother wants to meet you.” Then he gave her the most embarrassingly intimate kiss they had ever shared in public. It was full of lips and tongue and was _great_.

Three chuunin with various broken limbs wolf-whistled and cheered, leading to the rest of the cafeteria joining in. Sakura’s face felt like it was on fire. Kiba set her back down on the bench, gave her a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth. With a wink from Hinata and a sly grin from Choji, her three year-mates disappeared.

From the gossip of her table-mates, no one was going to forget that anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that i've been gone for so long! with Naruto all wrapped up, it's been difficult for me to maintain motivation. also, i am hella lazy.  
> y'all might be able to tell, but this has sort of taken a mind of its own. i have a general outline for the main plot, but everything i am literally pulling out of my ass as i write it. and, yeah, it's gonna be sakura/kiba?? i don't know where that came from?? but it's here and it's here to stay??? i'll try to figure out other pairings but iru/kashi is pretty obvious too. everyone's gonna be hella gay, end of story  
> and stuff is hella different! remember that this is a break from the canon of naruto! but that doesn't mean our beloved characters are any less annoying!  
> next chapter: more dating! more pranks! when the hell is kakashi-sensei going to tell iruka that he has the most disgusting crush on him? nobody knows! kakashi doesn't even know!  
> (stalk me on tumblr @the-gloamglozer)


	5. part five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura loves Kiba, she loves Konoha, she loves that Kakashi-sensei is such an idiot, she loves Ino and Hinata and Tenten, and lord, she loves Naruto. She loves Naruto like he is an extension of herself.
> 
> On the other hand, she sort of hates Sasuke. But she's working on that.

Inuzuka Tsume was a terrifying woman, but Sakura knew terrifying. She was frankly surprised that they had been dating as long as they had without having a meal at the Inuzuka compound. So, forgoing proper etiquette and knowing the type of people that the Inuzuka were, Sakura dressed in her normal outfit, pulled her hair up, and hoped that she wouldn’t have to fight her boyfriend’s mom. Or him.

Admittedly, Kiba had it coming, especially after the stunt he pulled at the cafeteria.

But Tsume was not nearly as bad as her son made her out to be. A bit abrasive, and definitely brash, but Sakura could tell that the matriarch really just burned to know if Sakura really was invested in her son. After a full ten minutes of Sakura ignoring said son, because all of the clan’s dogs wanted to meet her, Tsume softened minutely. Anyone who loved the dogs was accepted, especially if the dogs loved them in return.

Hana made them the best curry Sakura had ever eaten, and after they ate Kiba gave her a tour of the compound’s grounds. It was expansive—understandably—and beautiful. The river cut through the southern edge and the forest was twinkling with fireflies by the time they began making their way back to civilization. While Akamaru romped ahead of them, trying to snap passing bats up, Sakura marveled at how good she felt.

When she was younger, she had imagined marrying Sasuke and becoming a loving mother to the next generation of Uchiha, and later she had daydreamed that she could save Sasuke, change his heart, and bring him home. It still hurt to admit that those dreams were foolish, but it almost relieved her. Sasuke had always been, for lack of a better description, high maintenance. Though she had tried her best to be kind and friendly toward him, he had acted with cruelty to the last.

She’d even had her head stuffed so far in her ass over Sasuke that she hadn’t even noticed her friends. Hinata was amazing at kyudo, was emerging from her shell, and was honestly one of the best people Sakura knew. Ino was complex and could even give Sakura and her intelligence a run for her money. It was overwhelming to finally see her year-mates for who they were.

It was freeing, then, to look at Kiba and imagine a carefree future with him. He was never going to take over the clan, unless Hana died, and even then the Inuzuka had no life or death role in the future of Konoha. Hell, Sakura wasn’t even sure she would marry him, but if she did, her life would be better for it. And that was the marvel of it. Kiba actually liked her, returned her kindness and love.

It was a little overwhelming, but in the best way possible.

After bidding goodnight to Tsume, Hana, and literally all of the dogs (who were still obsessed with her), Sakura took Kiba’s hand. They walked through the quiet city, content in each other’s presence.

 

\---

 

Stories at the Academy always said that the Ōmisoka party thrown by Anko and whoever she roped in to help her was literally the party to be invited to, and it was difficult to get into. They also said that one year, Gai brought a massive bear and they spent most of the night fighting it. And, a year before that, Genma and Raidou had drunk so much sake that they continued to be drunk for a full week after.

There were many things the stories were wrong about.

For one, the invitation was casual. Ume mentioned the party in passing to Sakura, and told her to bring anyone she wanted. The only caveat to being allowed in was that all partygoers were preferably chuunin, and if not, at least over 16. There was also never any bear, thought there was a pack of very lost wolves, and Genma and Raidou were never able to stay drunk for an entire week. They had just been in the hospital for nearly a month after.

But everyone at the Academy was right when they said it was the party to be at. Before they had gotten within two streets of Ume’s family home, Kiba, Sakura, and Akamaru could already hear the noise.

There were casually and formally dressed nin spilling out from the large, traditional house, sharing plates of food, tea, and liquor. Kiba and Sakura mingled, talk coming easy as they wandered toward the house. They knew many of the nin who were there, whether from the hospital, other chuunin, or their year-mates. It took them an hour to work through the crowds, until they made it to the inside of house.

Shikamaru was beating all of the jounin stupid enough to play cards with him out of their money, which Ino was stacking in piles with a terrifying grin on her face. Choji and Shino were arguing the benefits of different types of meat with a very drunk-looking Genma, and Raidou was passed out under the kotetsu, his head the only part of his body visible.

Anko sat on the tatami, taking swigs straight from a bottle of sake, and generally looking very satisfied with herself. “Oi, Sakura! Nice of you to show up!” she crowed, waving the sake bottle. “I would drag Ume out to say hi, but she disappeared a little while ago. Dunno where she went.”

“Hi, hi, I’m here,” the black-haired woman said somewhat sardonically. She emerged from an inner room, shutting the door behind her. “It’s lovely to see you all, though. I—er, I don’t remember this many people coming last year, I am sorry if I seem a bit frazzled. Anko, nee,” she turned to the other woman, “where did you put my geta?”

“Back porch?” the drunk woman replied, flinging her arm out and miraculously finding a fresh bottle of alcohol. “Why?”

But Ume already had gone, the dull red of her hakama disappearing through another doorway. The three of them (and Akamaru) shrugged, and returned to the festivities.

After another hour, Genma and Raidou were forced outside so they could sober up a little, and Kiba and Sakura were sitting together under the kotetsu, watching Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru play a game of shōgi while Choji and several geisha led most of the gathered ninjas still outside in song, both bawdy and tragic. Ume had found several geisha and maiko in training, and they were gladly mingling with nin, an easy way to promote their services. Not invited were the courtesans, but that was because they showed up anyway. By the time it was properly night, half of Konoha seemed to be spilling into the Miyamoto compound.

But when it turned night—that was when everyone’s minds turned to the nearness of the new year. Despite the ongoing shōgi game and revelry of the singers, all abandoned their former pursuits when Ume reappeared in her miko garb, hair pulled up and a scarf wrapped around her pink face. The sprawling house was left behind, and the scores of civilians, nin, geisha and courtesans began climbing the hill in the rear of the compound, passing underneath vermilion torii.

Anko and Ume, or at least Ume, had put a lot of thought into it, Sakura considered as she walked up the wide steps with Kiba, Akamaru a warm presence against her side. The Miyamoto family had, at one time, been caretakers of an expansive shrine system installed by both their own family and the Uzumaki family for the benefit of Uzumaki Mito. After the former jinchūriki had died and much of the Miyamoto clan killed in the Kyuubi’s attack, the shrines had been all but forgotten.

The torii gave way to a large expanse of stone, stopped at the far end by a massive shrine, and to the left and right it continued along other pathways. Two statues of fierce kitsune lined the path, long-faded red bibs tied around their neck, ornamental scrolls tucked into their mouths.

The whispers from the crowd mounted—of all the secrets in Konoha, this one was the best-kept. Foxes were not a favored ornament, but these were whole and beautiful, and after Naruto saving them from possible devastation by Shukaku, the crowd pressed to them, rubbing their paws and noses. Someone was distributing amazake, and Ume was waiting with omamori and a bin for any old ones that needed to be burned.

There was a strange, feverish atmosphere about. There hadn’t been any proper temples open in years past, since before the Kyuubi’s attack, and all were ready to remember or learn what to do.

Sakura and Kiba left after most others had gone. She had gotten them both omamori, and gone with Kiba to make wishes for the new year. Iruka, Ume, and Anko were the only ones left after that, and they wished them goodbye as the sun was beginning its ascent.

 

\---

 

Kiba didn’t ask her what she wished for. They were, after all, not supposed to tell anyone else their wishes. But if he had asked, she would have told him:

“For Kakashi-sensei to heal. For Naruto to come back. For us all to grow. For Hinata to come out of her shell. For Choji and Ino and Shikamaru to keep being the best friends out of all of us. For Shino to remember that his father is proud of him. For Ume-sensei to know that she isn’t alone, she has Anko-san and Iruka-sensei. For Lee and Tenten to calm Gai-sensei down. For Neji to not kill his genin, when they’re assigned to him this summer. For Tsunade-sama, though she really doesn’t need any help. For you, Kiba, and Akamaru, to stay amazing. And for myself, to grow and learn and move on.”

 

\---

 

Kakashi had been returning from a mission and had intercepted the bird Anko and Iruka had sent. Since he could run much quicker than the exhausted bird could fly, Kakashi had rushed back to Konoha, informed Tsunade, and collected a team of medic-nins.

Anko had written their approximate coordinates, and Kakashi found it quickest to summon his ninken and send them to the general area. Uuhei had been the first to bark, signaling that she found the other two ninja. Soon enough, three medic-nins appeared, trailing Kakashi himself. Two of the medics assisted Anko as she dropped out of Iruka’s weak arms, and Kakashi had to grab hold of the chuunin before he collapsed as well.

The blood was staining Kakashi’s flak jacket but he kept hold of the chuunin, turning him so the last medic-nin could patch him up some more before they returned to the village.

Tsunade was waiting for them at the hospital. She did cursory examinations of both injured nin, then sent Iruka off with Shizune and her team to get patched up. Anko was taken to one of the surgeries, the Hokage muttering all the while about idiocy bred from snakes. She sent Kakashi to wait for Iruka to be out of surgery.

Kakashi slumped on a bench outside of the surgery, exhausted from the day’s efforts, but oddly wired.

Iruka’s injuries were much more straightforward than Anko’s—her eyes wouldn’t focus, and she seemed to have sustained several head injuries, whereas her teammate had merely been slashed open. Kakashi mulled over what the two of them could’ve been doing as he waited.

After nearly three hours, Shizune left the surgery. She waited until the other medic nins had wheeled the now unconscious Iruka out of the surgery and down the hall to talk to Kakashi.

“He is stabilized for now,” the medic-nin wiped sweat from her forehead, “but he will have to stay at the hospital for a while. The cuts on his abdomen were bad—some type of poison was on the blade, but we neutralized it for the time being. He’s going to have to undergo a full poison workup. Once Tsunade-sama sees him we’ll be able to work the details out.”

They turned, and silently walked toward the room Anko had been wheeled into.

Sakura waited on a bench outside of the surgery Tsunade was working in, her hair plastered to her head with sweat and her eyes bloodshot. She stood when Shizune and Kakashi walked up, steady on her feet despite her appearance. “Tsunade-sama sent me to get back-up medics—they’re waiting in the observation room. And she wanted us to start Iruka-sensei’s poison workup.”

“Then we’ll do that,” Shizune said, turning to Kakashi, “Kakashi-san, you can leave. I’m sure you need some rest, and to turn in your mission report.”

For several fleeting moments, the knot in Kakashi’s stomach hardened. Sakura, seeming to notice, placed a hand on his arm, “Kakashi-sensei, come back in the morning. I’ll be here.” He nodded, feeling a little helpless, and left for the mission office.

It was largely empty when he arrived, only Raidou and another kunoichi on duty. Kakashi submitted his paperwork like a good boy (for once), accepted his compensation, and left. It took all of his will to actually go home after that. After a shower he felt a little more human, and though his fridge was mostly empty he scrounged enough to make some stir-fry.

By the time he cleaned up the food and washed the few dirty dishes, he was still wound too tightly to try and sleep, as Shizune had suggested. So, Kakashi did the one thing that he always did when faced with a stressful situation: he cleaned.

Very few people knew that Hatake Kakashi was a stress-cleaner. If he considered it, only Guy really knew of his dark habit. Minato-sensei had known, and so had Rin, but both of them were gone. Obito had not been around long enough to learn the odd habits Kakashi had developed in the absence of his parents. He wondered what Sakura and Naruto and, yes, even Sasuke would think of him if they knew this. He finished scrubbing out the bathtub, and, noticing that it was just getting light outside, decided that he had waited long enough. It took him fifteen minutes to find clean clothes and make it to the hospital.

Sakura was a psychic, he was convinced, because she appeared just as he walked up to the front desk. Her hair was once again pulled back in a neat ponytail, and the bags under her eyes didn’t look as bad.

“Kakashi-sensei,” she waved to the kunoichi at the front desk, gave her a pile of papers, and gestured at him to follow her. “You look worse than you did when you left,” her voice sounded about as tired as he felt, but her tone still managed to make him feel guilty, “I’m glad you came, though. He’ll want to see you when he wakes up.”

Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but Kakashi’s stomach did all sorts of flip-flops when she said that. He followed her dumbly the short way down the hall to one of the intensive care rooms, and stopped at the door. He was too pale, lying on that bed with his oxygen mask and IV, not laughing with his head thrown back at one of Kakashi’s (terrible) jokes or threatening a rowdy student with vivacious ferocity.

Sakura set a chair down next to the bed and pointedly glanced from it to him. Kakashi knew better than to argue with her, and dragged himself over to the chair. His former student looked as if she was going to say something, but was cut off when the door slid quickly open.

The black-haired woman sprinted in, eyes wide and panicked. “S-Sakura,” she stuttered out, “Tsunade-sama said—it can’t be true! Why were they on that mission?!” Upon seeing the pale form on the bed, her face crumpled.

“Ume-san,” Sakura found another chair and lead the woman to it. “It’s okay.”

Kakashi watched the scene with detached interest. He knew that Ume knew both Anko and Iruka, but she seemed closer to the kunoichi, not to the teacher. It wouldn’t have been surprising to him but for her reaction to Iruka’s injured state. If she knew something about the mission they had been on, though, he wanted to know as well.

“Do you know what mission they were on?” he asked her.

She looked at him, eyes still wide and burning, and said, “I was supposed to go. With Tsubaki. It was—it was supposed to be simple, finding something, no specifics, no questions asked. ‘ruka, why did he go?” she moaned to Sakura, hands trembling.

“Shh, Ume-san,” Sakura took her hands, and began speaking to her in a soft, even tone. Kakashi glazed over, staring down at Iruka. Curiouser and curiouser.

He looked back up when Ume made a distressed noise again, and said, “But sensei—even if he’s, his—”

“Ume-san,” Sakura looked over at Kakashi, her eyes pinched with worry. “You shouldn’t talk about that. Why don’t you go see Tsunade-sama, and Anko?”

The woman nodded, despondent. She looked at Iruka, at Sakura, then left the room as quickly as she had appeared.

“What was that about?” Kakashi asked his student.

She tensed slightly. “Kakashi-sensei—I don’t think I should tell you. Maybe—maybe you should wait until Iruka-sensei is awake, and ask him.”

 

\---

 

It was a day until Iruka woke up. Kakashi—well, he tried not to linger, but he sort of ended up doing it anyway. Sakura was frequently in the brown-haired teacher’s room, making sure he was comfortable and recovering from the poison, and every time she engaged him in conversation. She seemed…knowing, and in a way that perplexed him. If Ibiki had taught her some espionage skills—no, it wouldn’t do to think of that. Her growth as a nin was terrifying enough without bringing the torture master into it.

It was nice, not that Iruka was unconscious, but that Sakura had no problem talking to him. She was evasive about her training (well, he would get answers when Naruto got back) but glad to catch up.

But. Iruka.

The question about Ume and Anko and Iruka swirled in the back of his mind like a burr, grasping onto his consciousness even as he pushed it back. He didn’t know who Iruka’s jounin sensei had been; those records were sealed. Despite his tendency for nosiness, he wasn’t able to weasel it out of anyone.

And he didn’t particularly want to weasel it out of anyone except for the man himself. When he had gone fishing for the information, quickly he had found that it felt as though he was somehow betraying whatever trust Iruka might have in him.

So he moped around the hospital, with the exception of when Sakura kicked him out to go eat real food.

 

\---

 

Kiba gave her crap about constantly mothering Kakashi—the man would barely leave Iruka’s room once the teacher woke up and after they had actually talked. It was sort of embarrassing for Sakura, to have both of those men who had taught her relying on her, but she got over it quickly. And so did Kiba, once she set her mind to it.

They were having another cherry blossom viewing party a couple days after Iruka woke up, and this time Sakura didn’t have to awkwardly deflect any questions. She pre-emptively got it over with, telling Ino and Hinata and Tenten as they prepared food in her cramped apartment.

“So you were lying to us,” Ino jabbed her with an elbow as they wrapped mochi. Tenten was laughing near-hysterically over the grill.

“Omitting,” Sakura poked Ino in the side, getting rice flour all over both of them. “You would’ve been annoying about it, anyway.”

“Eh, it’s not very surprising,” said Hinata. She was finishing a box full of onigiri, all neat and identical. “Kakashi-sensei seems like that type of person.”

“Like youuuu?” asked Ino, wrapping her arms around the purple-haired girl and inadvertently smearing rice flour all over her as well.

Hinata reddened, bent over and ignored any further talk.

They all changed into their yukata before heading over to the cherry trees, where Kiba and Choji were waiting with mats and thermoses of tea and juice. Neji and Shino appeared as the girls did, Shikamaru minutes later. Predictably, Lee was late, but not as late as the last time.

They ate and talked for hours, until it was beginning to get dark, then the majority of the teens somehow migrated to Sakura’s apartment, where Tenten had stashed some good-vintage plum wine that morning. Things devolved into strip poker by the time Sakura had to return—temporarily—to the hospital to check on her two patients. Anko was unconscious, still, and Iruka was similarly asleep. Kakashi was awake, reading by the light of a lamp that Sakura had acquired specifically for him once he had shown no sign of leaving.

“Smooth sailing, Kakashi-sensei?” she asked, unhooking Iruka’s chart to update it.

He grunted, blearily looked up from the book, “What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten,” she returned the clipboard to the end of the bed. “Was Iruka-sensei lucid—did he talk to you today?” Right after he had woken up, Iruka had been almost literally out of his mind, unable to really talk, just staring. She usually only stopped by when Iruka was asleep or otherwise unable to talk to her. Shizune took care of them during the day.

“Yes,” he looked at her sort of bleakly. “Ah—“ he paused, looked from the sleeping man to his former student—“Sakura-chan, did you know…?”

“Orochimaru?” she ventured, tucking some loose strands of hair behind her ear. The man nodded, looked at Iruka again, furtive, almost. As though he was betraying his trust.

“Ume-san and Anko-san told me,” she said, sat lightly on the end of Iruka’s bed. “Ume-san was worried about them being out of the Land of Fire because of the risk.”

“Hm,” Kakashi hummed, looked down at Iruka again.

“Don’t worry about it, Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura said. She stood, considered both of her old teachers, “If anything, Iruka-sensei will be good for you.”

With a smirk on her face, she fled back to her apartment, leaving a perplexed Kakashi to puzzle that out.

 

\---

 

Sakura knew Naruto would be back soon—Iruka had gotten a letter before leaving on his mission with Anko. The blond had written that they were leaving Ishigakure and would return to Konohagakure in three weeks’ time.

She was taking a break in the hospital, trying to relax her eyes after staring at Shizune’s cramped writing on patient reports for nearly two hours. The clack of heels alerted her to her teacher’s presence, and she turned as Tsunade entered the filing room.

“Tsunade-sensei?”

“Ora, Sakura,” the Hokage had a smile tugging at her lips, “that Naruto kid—looks like he’s returned to Konoha.”

“Nee, when!?” she asked, nearly breaking the desk in half when she gripped it. “Where?”

Tsunade tucked her hands in her sleeves, and cocked her head to the door, “Let’s go.”

They left the hospital and were wandering toward the Hokage Tower when Sakura heard a yell from behind her. She turned, and her eyes met those same shocking blue ones that she had not seen in nearly three years.

“Sa-Sakura-chan?” that incredulous voice was definitely Naruto’s. He had gotten so tall and broad that Sakura couldn’t believe it was him.

“Eh, Naruto?!” she surveyed him with surprised eyes, “you’ve gotten taller than me!”

He looked at her with shock, using a hand to compare their heights. Jiraiya chuckled and said something softly to Kakashi, who already had his nose buried in what appeared to be a new Icha Icha book. Tsunade was still smiling like she had won a lottery of pachinko.

“Naruto-nii-chan!” came a yell from behind them. Sakura turned—it was that annoying kid who’d gotten kidnapped. Konohamaru, she thought his name was. He slid to a stop and put his fingers together to perform a jutsu that she knew only too well and Sakura had to stop herself from punching the child in the face.

“Orioke-no-jutsu!” The now curvaceous brunette winked at them. Jiraiya cackled out loud

He dissipated the jutsu and gave Naruto a thumbs up, “How was that!? A real amazing jutsu, wasn’t it!?”

Sakura was surprised to see an uncharacteristically serious look on Naruto’s face. Maybe he had matured after all. She could feel her respect for him rise.

“Konohamaru, I’m sorry, but I’m not a kid anymore,” his voice was almost stern when he spoke, and Sakura felt something like pride well up in her chest, “from now on, you shouldn’t use that jutsu either.”

And then, when he continued, Sakura remembered that nothing good lasts.

“Such a jutsu is now mediocre, Konohamaru!” the blond yelled, clenching one fist, “Behold! The new perverted ninjutsu I’ve been developing! HERE WE GO!!”

It took her a second to process the words, “New..perv..jut—” She acted on instinct and slugged Naruto in the face. “Perverted ninjutsu?! YOU IDIOT!” she roared as she grabbed him by the front of his orange and black jacket, shaking him like she would a misbehaving Akamaru, “I haven’t seen you for two and a half years and you immediately jump into that! Idiot!! Any respect I felt is gone!”

Kakashi finally stepped in, looking away from his book long enough to say, “Maa, Sakura, calm down. You’re terrifying Konohamaru.”

She rolled her eyes, but let go of Naruto and dusted her clothes off. Tsunade shared a glance with Kakashi and nodded.

“Right,” Kakashi tucked his book into his pouch and turned to his former students. “From now on, the two of you will come with me on team-related missions. But it will be different from before. I am no longer your teacher. Starting today, we’re equal Konoha shinobi.”

He reached back into his pouch and, with a definitive jangle, brought out the same bells they had once fought him for. His eyebrow arched up in a smile as he said, “First, though, I’m a bit curious to see how you both have developed. The rules remain the same as our first time, and if you don’t come at me with killing intent, you will never succeed!”

They left for the training ground, waving goodbye to Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were already naming all the bars they could go to before Shizune laid down the law. Practice Area 3 looked almost identical to when they had first been tested there.

Naruto finally broke their almost reverent silence, saying, “This place—I’ve missed it.”

“Yeah,” Sakura nodded in quiet agreement.

As if knowing where that thought was taking them, Kakashi said, “Remember, the rules are the same as before. No matter how, you have to get the bells before sunrise tomorrow.” Turning back to them, he said, “Well then, shall we begin?”

Naruto smirked, tightening his headband. “Heh, you won’t do it while reading your book this time, Kakashi-sensei?”

“Or have you already finished it?” Sakura goaded, pulling her gloves on and stretching her hands.

The one-eyed smile returned, and he replied, “I think I’ll save my enjoyment for later. Besides—for some reason I get the feeling I should take it a little seriously, as well.” As he said that, one hand came up to lift his headband away from the Sharingan.

Everything went still. Naruto, ever impulsive, acted first. Before Kakashi could officially start them, the blond had taken a handful of shuriken and launched them (rather impressively) at their former teacher.

He ducked, sending two rapid shuriken sprays of his own at the boy. They were spaced so that, once Naruto leapt, he would be hit by the second handful. Sakura didn’t stop to think, but jumped and snagged Naruto by the back of his coat, sending both of them hurtling away from the projectiles.

They split and ran, meeting up inside the wooded area. Sakura was trying to think of a plan, but the real trouble with any strategy would be cluing Naruto in.

“I’ll to right, you go left. We need to distract him,” she said as quietly as possible. “Can you think of a way?”

Kakashi’s voice rang out from the cleared area, “Mah, you both got so excited that you didn’t even wait for me say start--in any case, start!”

So Sakura sprinted right, back into the clearing, and sent a super-powered punch slamming into the ground, where she could feel traces of Kakashi’s chakra signature. “Shannarooooo!” she yelled as the earth exploded up, and a shaken-looking Kakashi flickered out into the woods.

“Oi, Sakura,” Naruto said when they met up in the woods again, “you’re scary!”

“Yeah, yeah, did you think of anything?” she kept them moving, always on the trail of Kakashi’s chakra.

“Well, there is something,” he said slyly, looking positively devious. “We need to corner him.”

It took some doing, ferreting around that gave Sakura flashbacks to her training rounds with Ume and Anko. But they managed to corner their sensei in front of one of the larger trees, and to Sakura’s surprise, Naruto got the devilish look on his face, and started speaking about some book and Sakura realized what he was doing.

Kakashi got a panicked look on his face, clapped his hands over his ears, but seemed to forget that the Sharingan, which he had exposed at the beginning in anticipation, was recording everything that Naruto was saying.

When he opened his eyes, Sakura and Naruto stood in front of him, each holding a small, tinkling bell and bearing identical, shit-faced smiles.

Kakashi’s mask creased visibly with his smile, and he said, “So, ramen?”

 

\---

 

The next day Sakura met Naruto in front of their apartment building, already having eaten breakfast and stretched for the day. They had plans to go to the training ground and—well, not train, exactly, but get up to date on each other’s skills and growth. Safe to say, Naruto was continuously surprised by what Sakura could do, and by noon they were both ready for a break. The sun was beating down, and it would only get hotter, so Sakura suggested they visit Iruka at the hospital. She knew Naruto hadn’t stopped by there yet.

“Eeh, the hospital? What did he do to get sent there?” Naruto asked after her suggestion, sounding surprised.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” she said upon quickly reaching the building. Iruka’s room was on the first floor, down the hall from the front desk. Naruto cautiously opened the door and peeked in. Iruka was propped up on the bed, reading through a stack of student work, swathed in bandages from the chest down.

“Iruka-sensei?” the blonde ninja said, his voice inevitably loud and confused.

Iruka’s head came up so fast Sakura thought he was going to get whiplash, “Naruto?”

Sakura knew a touching reunion when she saw one, but since this particular reunion involved one of her worse-off patients, she didn’t pay much attention to what was being exchanged. Sending out some chakra to monitor Iruka’s vitals, she pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed, focusing in time to hear Naruto ask what had happened and how Iruka was.

“—Tsunade-sama and Sakura-chan made sure I was okay, so there’s no need to worry,” Iruka smiled, which seemed to have a calming effect on the hyperactive blonde.

“But—” Naruto began, but Sakura cut him off.

“Sensei, it’s time for your medicine, and,” she gave him a pointed look, “you are supposed to be resting. I am sure Shikamaru will finish grading those papers in time for class tomorrow, and Naruto and I should really be going.” The schoolteacher sighed, but gratefully gave the kunoichi the remaining papers and let her fuss over him for several minutes before the two younger nin left.

Naruto slowly followed Sakura as she left Iruka’s room and made her way to the section of the hospital that housed more serious medical cases. She entered the very first room, the blonde still trailing after her.

“Ah, Ume-san, visiting again?” the pink-haired kunoichi gave her former teacher a warm smile. The other woman returned the smile, albeit looking tired. Sakura patted her shoulder then turned to the other woman, who was lying prone on the bed.

Anko was physically quite healthy—all of her wounds had been superficial at worst—but a series of hard blows to her head had left her unconscious. Sakura let a wave of chakra settle over the elite jounin, and it showed her all the vital signs she needed to know.

Any changes were marked on the clipboard, which was returned to its peg on the wall less than a minute later. Sakura bade farewell to Ume and dragged Naruto out of the room. “You,” she said with mock severity in her tone as they headed down a familiar street to a familiar food stand, “owe me ramen.”

 

\---

 

Naruto was different; if Sakura was being honest, a part of her expected him to be the same, hyperactive idiot who used to annoy the everliving shit out of her. Well, he hadn’t changed so much in that regard, but he was definitely older. More mature, and Sakura began to understand what the Fourth Hokage must have been like, at least a little.

They spent a lot of time together, the first week. Iruka got out of the hospital and took them to the barbecue place with an absolutely mollified Kakashi (Iruka had confided in Sakura that he had long suspected the jounin of being interested in him, but only took advantage of it when the other man needed to turn in paperwork). And they slipped back into their old, familiar friendship. It was closer that Sakura remembered, but they were both so full of broken places that having another to confide in, to be with, was a comfort in itself.

Though, it was still embarrassing when Naruto figured out that she was dating Kiba. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to know, there were just so many surprising and exciting things happening that she forgot to tell him. They were sitting on the top of the Hokage Tower, just enjoying each other’s company, when Akamaru appeared out of nowhere, grabbed onto the back of Sakura’s shirt, and began pulling.

“Ehh, Sakura, what is the mutt doing?” Naruto asked, cautiously, as if wondering if he should stab the dog to save her.

“It’s, uh,” she frowned, “is it Thursday?”

He looked at her with suspicious eyes, replied, “It’s Friday.”

She tugged free of the dog’s hold, panic on her face as she stood. “Shit! Oh god, ‘maru, tell him I completely forgot! I’ll be there in a few minutes!”

“Be where?” Naruto’s suspicion had increased, and he eyed the now departing dog.

“Can’t talk, gotta go!” Sakura sped off across the rooftops, not as fast as the dog.

Naruto followed her at a more sedate pace, whining, “Sakura-chan, why can’t you just tell me?”

When she stopped outside of the gates to the Inuzuka compound, Naruto plowed right into her. They shared several snorting giggles before Kiba appeared beside Akamaru.

He eyed them. “Is this insanity contagious?”

“Fuck, you have a sense of humor?” Naruto asked, aghast, mouth stretched wide in an unstoppable grin. “I didn’t know you could develop one of those in only three years.”

“Stop being a dick,” Sakura punched him very lightly on the shoulder. “God, go find Kakashi-sensei and ask him about his non-existent sex life, or something. We have a date.”

“You—have—” the blond looked at her with overwhelming confusion. Kiba, being Kiba, did nothing to help the situation.

“Fuck,” Sakura looked around wildly, from her boyfriend to her best friend, “shit, I didn’t tell you—there was so much, with Iruka-sensei, and Tsunade-sama, oh my god. Yes, we’re dating?”

“You’re dating. Right,” he seemed to finally grasp what she was saying, turned to Kiba, said, “you hurt her in any way, and I will remove your spleen through your nose,” and took off back into the village.

Sakura laughed. Kiba looked bewildered.

“It’s so nice to have concerned friends,” she managed to say, wrapping an arm around her boyfriend and dragging him toward the dango shop.

 

\---

 

A week and a half after Naruto and Jiraiya returned to the village, and she knew Ume was on a mission somewhere in Kiri, it seemed like an appropriate time to show Naruto the shrine. It came as somewhat of a surprise to her when, upon them arriving at the base of the torii-crowned stairs, Naruto spoke.

His voice was barely over a whisper, and he said, “I—I used to come here. When we were in the Academy—before the Academy.”

Sakura looked sideways at his open-eyed wonder, nodded mutely, and began to climb.

The event on the first day of the year had been the first and so far only large event that Ume had held in the shrine, but that didn’t stop the woman from continuing her renovations and restorations. The large building of the shrine, which had previously been half-fallen on the northern wing, was back to its former pristine glory, the courtyard had been filled in with new cobble in the places where it had broken, and everything had been repainted.

The kitsune sported fresh red bibs, signs of new devotees, and were cleaned almost enough to shine in the late morning light. There were omikuji tied around the two massive trees that dominated the ends of the courtyard, and bells tinkling from one of the auxiliary shrines tucked into the forest. Sakura’s breath caught in her throat as she turned again, to see Naruto looking at the two kitsune statues with a fragile sort of awe.

He touched their paws, their tails, with light fingers. His eyes lifted to the shrine building itself, the sloped red roofing, the bronzed lanterns, the thick braid of the shimenawa.

“Ume—she was at the hospital—this is her family’s shrine,” Sakura finally said. “She had New Year’s celebrations here.”

“A lot of people?” Naruto asked, his voice still hushed, almost reverent.

“Half the village,” Sakura replied, smile tugging at her lips as Naruto turned to her with awe on his face. “She’s come up here and found the torii cleaned and repainted, someone had repaired the statues, and cleaned out the paths.”

And Naruto had to pause, turn to look at the building again, blinking his eyes quickly. “They care,” his voice was small.

 

\---

 

The pain of finding Gaara dead, with Chiyo dying on her back—that was more than Sakura had ever experienced. She was a shinobi, a killer, but the look of such overwhelming loss on the faces of Temari and Baki, on the faces of the other Sand-nin who appeared, on Naruto’s face made her despair and sadness puddle and snap in her stomach. But he was saved, in the end, and Sakura left for the Land of Fire feeling off-kilter, like a kite snapped from its string, fluttering on uncertain winds.

They made good time, and were back within three days. The relief of being home was torn to shreds when they realized that the meeting with Sasori’s informant was soon enough that they would have to leave in the following days.

She didn’t get the chance to see Kiba before they left; he was out on a mission with his team.

 

\---

 

This is how it happened: Sakura was sick of being told that she was weak. People didn’t say it directly to her face anymore, but it was definitely implied when she was compared to Naruto, the other Chuunin, and her year-mates. It was not just that, though. She had been constantly told that by several people in particular who were important to her. The first on that list was Sasuke. So, when given the opportunity to thoroughly kick his ass, she took it.

See: one Uchiha Sasuke, looking righteous and smug with his sword atop what was formerly Kabuto’s main base. His eyes didn’t even consider her, instead focusing on Naruto.

See: one Haruno Sakura, standing in front of Naruto, her best friend, willing herself calm and collected and thinking of Kiba’s smile, Kiba’s stupid spiky hair, Kiba’s laugh and how gentle he was when he touched her.

And then she made the world explode.

 

\---

 

During her training, there were two tenets that Anko and Ume drilled into her head more than any other. The first, do not let her enemies see her bleed, and the second, always have an escape plan. Tsunade added one more, once they began training again. Her only principle was for Sakura to not reveal her true power to anyone.

Her three teachers would’ve been proud, then, when Sakura did not break any of those rules to capture Sasuke.

It was simple, in a way. Sakura had consulted the data produced by Orochimaru before he had left Konoha, interviewed Anko, Tsunade, and Ume, and read all of the Uchiha histories she could find. The biannually produced bingo book came in handy, as well. She could approximate how powerful he would be based on a combination of all of that added to her first-hand observations to formulate her plan as she fought. Shikamaru had even given her some tips on strategy over several infuriating games of shōgi in between her shifts at the hospital.

She had explained some of this to Yamato and Naruto. Yamato had nodded and given some additional input. Naruto hadn’t said anything, but seemed a mix of suspicious and amazed.

Sakura knew that this fight against Sasuke would need to be ended quickly. She couldn’t risk Naruto going full-on Kyuubi again, and she didn’t want to release her Byakugoh-no-In without being sure she had enough chakra. It helped that Kurenai-sensei had finished genjutsu training with her.

Because, predictably, that was the first thing Sasuke tried.

She felt mildly insulted that it wasn’t even his Sharingan. In preparation to face that, she’d ended up basically mauling Kakashi-sensei several times, patching him up, and sending him invariably back to the hospital where he would sit with Iruka-sensei. For all her intense self-discipline and planning, she was still being considered a third-rate.

Coolly she dispelled the genjustu that Sasuke had cast, touched Naruto to ensure he was unaffected, and spurred herself to action.

She found herself working with the element of surprise, mostly. A chakra-channeled punch to the wall atop which her former teammate sat, and he was forced to return to the torn-up underground where Sakura waited. There was surprise—it flashed briefly across his face, and was replaced with annoyance. Well, that wasn’t surprising.

His sword flashed out and Naruto—dear Naruto, her best friend and brother in all but blood—didn’t move, couldn’t move. She could. And she did.

The two tantos flashed from her back and into her hands, and she was pushing Sasuke away from where Naruto was paralyzed, back to where the wall had crumbled. Her hands were numb with the force and the lightning that Sasuke was channeling through his sword. Yes, she had an affinity with earth chakra, but all the ninjutsu she knew required at least one hand free to form the hand-signs.

Taking a chance, she drove Sasuke back until he was backed up against the fallen rubble. With a speed that belied her newness to the short swords, she swung the one in her right hand back into its sheath, beginning the hand-signs as soon as the blade was secure. The last two, the lion and the ram, she finished as Sasuke went on the offensive and began pushing her back in turn, the marking on his exposed neck beginning to spread over his shoulders. Sakura ducked a particularly forceful swing of the sword and slammed her hand to the ground, which surged up not unlike an ocean wave, consuming the man she had once known up to his neck.

While that probably would’ve been adequate as they waited for Yamato to find them, she decided to play it safe, walked forward, and decked him.

He had always underestimated her, and that had been his downfall.

When Yamato did find them, a passed-out Sai on his back, he tripped forward at the sight of Sasuke. Naruto caught him before he could hit the ground or drop the other nin and within minutes they were gone.

They had decided, while on the move away from the Land of Fire at the start of their misson, that they would camp for one night before reaching Konoha. Sakura, taking a page from her medical training, placed Sasuke under an induced coma. It allowed her to monitor his vitals, ensure he wouldn’t wake up, and learn more about the curse mark. But instead of resting for a night, they plowed on, an easier task once Sai re-awakened and was able to run by himself. Yamato looked like he was going to collapse by the time they were within sight of the massive walls surrounding Konoha, but Sakura felt good. She and Naruto had taken turns carrying Sasuke, and they had breaks every hour.

They arrived in the night, when the moon was making its slow way down the sky. The gate’s guards looked at them curiously, but knew who they were, and so they were waved through. A thought of ingenuity on Sai’s part—they had cast a genjutsu on Sasuke, to make him look inconspicuous, like a nondescript civilian. As a squad, they went immediately to the Hokage Tower, where Tsunade had doubtless been alerted by ANBU to their arrival. She led them into a prepared barrier that would shield them from spies and prevent anyone outside from hearing anything important.

Sakura unloaded Sasuke like he was a sack of potatoes onto her teacher’s mostly-clean desk, releasing the genjutsu that they had placed on him. The medical coma stayed, though, until they could figure out how to contain him. Within minutes, Ibiki appeared, followed by a crabby Inoichi and yawning Shikaku. Kakashi was the last to arrive, what little of his face visible completely blank.

There was a lot of talking, after that, discussion of what to do with the Uchiha, what to tell the rest of the city, how to follow up with Kabuto and Akatsuki. Sai and Yamato left soon after arriving, but Naruto and Sakura stayed, and by the time they left, the last of the full moon’s light was beginning to creep off of the Hokage Monument.

She left in a daze, and if she had been aware enough of the others she would’ve seen that Naruto was in the same state. They stumbled as a pair back to their apartment building, and before she left him on the stairs to continue up from the second floor, she pulled him into a fierce hug.

They stood there, like that, for a few minutes, breathing deep, trying to understand the fullness of what they accomplished.

After, Sakura pulled away, promising, “Tomorrow,” and waiting until Naruto was safe on his way up the stairs to go inside. She fumbled a little with her keys, her hands shaking, but it was the work of an instant to get through her chakra traps and into her apartment where she could collapse on the couch and not have to think for at least twelve hours.

She got her boots off, but that was the most she could manage before laying on the couch, in the middle of a patch of soft moonlight. Her eyes fluttered closed and she rubbed them with her hands, the callouses on her palms rough on the soft skin.

They had accomplished what they set to accomplish, and Sakura could feel some part of herself healing, in a way. Their threats were cut down to Kabuto and Akatsuki, and it was strange that they felt manageable now that Sasuke was captured.

Sakura pulled one of the throw pillows, tucked it against her stomach and curled around it. And when she fell asleep, for the first time in three years, she didn’t dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh lordy i am so sorry for absolutely abandoning this for basically a year, i mean i've obviously been productive but i just haven't really connected with this story, which is sorta why this chapter is longer and also the end! idk i had more stuff planned for this but i haven't been feeling it at all so ://  
> thanks for all the awesome feedback on my other naruto story! i like that one better, but this one still has a special place in my heart  
> find me on tumblr @kerr4cats! and i will literally always take requests please send me requests  
> (n tbh my favorite part of this is naruto's line about kiba's sense of humor idk it's hilarious)


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